Camera Lenses and Pointe Shoes
by Nova Porter
Summary: Draco Malfoy is a famed photographer and with his friend, Marie DuPonte, a famed bridal and formalwear designer, the two have taken England and America- both Magical and Muggle worlds- by storm. Draco is set to photograph a spread for Marie's new line of bridal lingerie, and the model for the shoot is owner of Make A Pointe Dance Studio, Hermione Granger.
1. Beignets

**I definitely was not expecting the amazing feedback I got from 3:00 A.M. It feels great to be writing again, and of course now I have so many thoughts for new stories. So here's the first chapter of my newest brain child; I'm working on chapters 2 and 3 which will hopefully be completed in the next week or so. So, without further delay and rambling, here's chapter 1!**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, and these characters (minus Marie) don't belong to me.**

The Top 30 Under 30 Gala was, as always, a beautiful affair. The banquet hall was decorated in ivory and gold, dimly lit with candles on every table. Bouquets of roses were placed perfectly around the room, giving the atmosphere a classic romantic feeling. A live jazz band played in the corner of the hall, and some of the men and women in attendance were dancing in the middle of the room while others sat at round dinner tables enjoying conversation with other attendees. Every so often, the shutter of a camera would go off as the photographer of the event roamed the room taking photos of different aspects of the event. His platinum blond hair was loosely combed back, and his slim cut black suit and crisp white shirt framing his 6'1 frame perfectly. His piercing steel grey eyes scanned the series of photos he had just taken on his camera. He was so wrapped up in his work, he didn't notice the black woman approaching him until she stood in front of him, handing him a glass of red wine. Her black, backless gown accentuated her 5'6 dancer's body, earning her more than few looks from some of the other gala attendees. Her dark brown kinky-coily hair had hints of honey-gold and copper that were exposed when hit by the lights, and was pulled back into a low bun-like style. Her dark stained lips formed a smile towards the blond as he smiled back, taking the glass from her. They clinked their glasses together lightly, and took a sip as the head of this year's selection committee stepped up to the microphone.

"I hope everyone is enjoying the evening!" he said, receiving applause from the audience, "Tonight we celebrate London's Top 30 under 30 and their achievements in their fields. But tonight, we also want to highlight the achievements of two individuals, who've been able to pair their individual successes and create something amazing. The relationship between this designer and this photographer has taken the industry by storm, and over the past two years, the pair has made their mark not only in England, but in America as well. If you look carefully, you may see this photographer taking photos of our event tonight. Please join me in honoring Mr. Draco Malfoy and Ms. Marie DuPonte! Would you like to say a few words?"

The room roared with the applause and cheers as the black woman and the blond man placed their glasses on the closest table and made their way to the podium. At the base of the steps, Draco held out his hand and Marie gathered the bottom of her gown taking his hand as she walked up the stairs. After snapping a candid shot of his friend, earning him a playful swat of his camera, Draco followed Marie up the stairs and the pair walked towards the podium. Marie and Draco shook the man's hand, and Marie stepped to the microphone.

"Well, we weren't really prepared to say anything," she started, her New Orleans accent evident, "but I think it's just great to be able to work with a good friend doing what you love. I think I speak for both of us when I say we're both very honored by the committee's recognition. Draco, any words?" She turned to her friend and stepped back as he stepped up to the mic to say a brief "Thank you all; continue having a lovely evening" before the applause started again and Draco escorted Marie down the stairs. The pair smiled politely and shook the hands of many of their associates and other committee members before making their way towards the back of the room.

"I don't know why you continue to ask if I have anything to add," Draco said, taking his camera from around his neck and placing it in its carrying case, "You know I prefer staying behind the camera."

Marie made a small "meh" sound, shrugging on her lightweight jacket. "One day you might surprise me. Are you ready to head out? We still gotta make an appearance at the Ministry of Magic thing."

Draco groaned, completely forgetting about the event and had every intention of going home and going to bed. "Or could just….not go."

Marie looked pointedly at her friend, raising her eyebrow slightly. "We promised Shacklebolt we would make a brief appearance. And now that we've decided to crossover into both the Magical and Muggle worlds, we gotta show face and make nice so stop sulking and let's get a move on."

The pair walked out of the ballroom onto the streets of London, making a right turn into a secluded alley. Marie rolled her eyes at Draco's continued sulking and looked at the large clock across the street from them. She linked her arm in his. "It's barely 7:30; we stay at the Ministry for 30 minutes and then we'll leave and I'll make some beignets. Deal?"

At the sound of "beignets", Draco's head instantly snapped up and without any warning, he Apparated the two to the Ministry. After steadying herself from their landing, Marie shot a glare to her friend. "Got dammit, are you serious?"

"Dammit, woman, do beignets mean _nothing_ to you?" Draco asked as he made his way into the Ministry's ballroom. Marie shook her head, and laughed before following Draco into the ballroom. Beignets would really make that boy do almost anything.

 **Well, what'd you think? Should I keep going? Should I dump it and try again? Leave me a review and give me some feedback! xx**


	2. Homeostasis

**I was NOT expecting such great feedback from Chapter 1; I feel so warm and fuzzy on the inside :D. Thank you for all your kind words and support. Still have to make changes to Chapter 3, but here's Chapter 2 to explain a little of Marie and Draco's dynamic. Enjoy!**

Truth be told, neither Draco nor Marie could say exactly when they became friends. The odd pair first met back in Hogwarts…sort of. He got her a glass of punch during the Yule Ball during Fourth Year, much to the displeasure of his…lovely date Pansy Parkinson- _It's just a fucking drink, woman_ -, and the two began talking. He complimented her unique navy opne-backed gown- _do you really?! It's my first design so I'm real nervous about it!_ \- and she thought the blond boy was a cute little thing but would look so much better without all that damn hair gel slicking his hair back. The pair only spoke for a few more moments before the girl excused herself, thanking him again for the punch and saying she didn't want to worry her friend by being gone too long. Draco was pretty sure she didn't attend Hogwarts and for a brief moment wondered who her friend could be. The moment passed almost as briefly as it came, though, and he continued to enjoy his night. After graduation, he worked for Malfoy Enterprise for three months exactly before saying fuck it and deciding to pick up his childhood hobby turned passion, photography, and making his own business. By the time he was 24, M. Photography had taken the Magical world by storm and everyone wanted the famed Draco Malfoy at their event or taking family portraits. While Draco enjoyed the fruits of his labor, when he was photographing for fun, he was always snapping candid photos of everyday things people never thought twice about. His unique eye and approach to photography caused him to get a request to photograph a spread for a bridal and formalwear boutique in, get this…America; Atlanta, Georgia to be specific. How in the hell someone in _America_ heard about him was beyond him, but sure enough, he found himself Apparating to the city of Atlanta at the end of the week to do this spread. He arrived at the botanical garden where the shoot was taking place and began to set up his equipment when he heard a familiar southern accent he hadn't heard in years.

"Hey, you must be the photographer! Thanks so much for traveling so far; I just love your work and figured I'd try getting a hold of…" the two made eye contact…"YOU!"

 _Sincerely, Marie_ Bridal and Formalwear was Marie Duponte's pride and joy. Born and raised in New Orleans to voodoo witch doctors, Marie was from one of the most powerful Magical families in America. After attending a witch's academy in New Orleans, she moved to Atlanta to attend a Muggle university and fulfill her life dream of becoming a designer. At 24, she had become a household name in both the Magical and Muggle world for all wedding and formal affairs. In quiet moments, Marie sometimes wondered about the blond boy who got her punch at the ball when she went to visit her friend at Hogwarts that one year, but from what her friend said about Slytherins, or whatever they were, she guess he was pretty well-off. When she came across a photo in Witch Weekly by M. Photography, she immediately got her assistant on the phone and told her to do whatever she had to (within reason, of course...yea, in reason) to get him to photograph her new collection. She was working with one of the models when someone notified her that the photographer was here. As she made her way over to him, Marie got a glimpse of his blond hair and for a split second, thought of the blond haired punch boy. _Nah, couldn't be_ , she shook herself of the thought. Well, she'd be damned and thank God, Merlin, and little baby Jesus that he _finally_ let go of the hair gel. The shoot went smoothly, and the two caught up on each other's lived and successes over dinner that evening. Draco was impressed to learn of her success in both the Magical and Muggle worlds, something that he had started to consider recently. Marie told Draco about her desire to open a shop in London, which resulted in Draco agreeing to use his platform as a photographer to promote her designs to some of his clients The two kept in touch, and in a few short months, Marie found her clientele in London increasing at a rapid pace. During a visit to London, Draco suggested Marie consider moving to London permanently. After all, she had an assistant manager at the original shop in Atlanta who could easily do the day-to-day runnings and Marie could still check in every month or so. Truth be told, Draco had grown fond of the woman and, blame his spoiled only-child upbringing, he wanted her to be closer. Marie had dabbled with the idea of moving to London; she did love London and was happy that her designs were getting recognition in both worlds but America was home. Yet a year and some change later, Marie found herself uprooting her life in Atlanta, Georgia and moving into a penthouse apartment that straddled both the Magical world and the Muggle world. _Sincerely, Marie_ blossomed and, because of her involvement in both worlds, M. Photography was now talked about in both Magical homes and Muggle homes.

The two friends continued to work with each other over the years, and at 28 years old, neither name could be said without the other's coming up in the same sentence. Business-wise, their success was record-breaking and was recognized across both worlds. As far as their personal relationship, the pair was like yin and yang…both literally and figuratively. While Draco was more of the mysterious type, Marie was social and outgoing. While Draco was a man of few words, Marie was a woman of many. While Draco enjoyed his bachelor life, Marie was engaged to Draco's longtime friend Blaise Zabini whom she met at a Welcome to London gathering Draco hosted for her a month or so after her big move. The two were getting married at the end of October, and Draco truthfully couldn't be happier for his two friends. There were moments when he would sometimes wondered what it would be like to have someone look at him with adoration in her eyes the way Marie looked at Blaise. Then he would notice a gorgeous leggy sultry-eyed woman and there went that thought. Marie just shook her head and rolled her eyes at his antics; she knew whenever that dear man-child of hers found "The One" he was gonna fall hook, line, bait, and sinker. In the meantime, Marie enjoyed her darling fiancé and Draco enjoyed his bachelorhood and the two basked in their unlikely friendship.

Clearly, _something_ needed to shake up this homeostasis.

 **So I'm really excited to get to the good stuff starting next chapter (you know, that initial awkward Draco/Hermione stuff that leads to the spicy Draco/Hermione stuff), so I apologize if this background chapter seemed a little rushed. If there are any questions left unanswered, shoot me a review and I'll try to clear things up. I have some grad school things to finish up for the end of the quarter, so it'll be a week or two before I can post a new chapter, but hopefully this can hold you all over until then! xx**


	3. Doomed

**So since I finished one of my assignments earlier than I planned to, and I had this chapter already written in my head, ta-da! Thank you for all the support with this story; enjoy!**

With three weeks until her wedding, Marie had a lot on her mind, and the last thing she wanted to think about was the photo shoot for her new bridal lingerie line she was currently driving to.

 _I did not think this through very well_ , she thought, putting her Ray Bans on and turning the volume up on the stereo slightly as Janelle Monae serenaded her through the car speakers. Her and Draco were scheduled to meet for coffee, tea in her case, and she was already running 10 minutes behind thanks to her darling fiancé deciding to spend the night the day before. Not that she was complaining entirely because it was _completely_ worth the extra time in bed- and in the shower…and that quickie next to her car before she left-, but now she was late and Marie hated being late. Thankfully, the place they were meeting was nearby so it didn't make her feel too bad that she was a little behind. She pulled into a spot and quickly checked her rearview mirror to make sure she didn't look like she had been shagging her fiancé prior to come and that was why she was late.

...

When Draco saw Marie walk into the door of the café, he knew instantly the reason she was late was because she had just come from being thoroughly shagged. Her kinky-coily hair was frizzier than usual and her brown cheeks were flushed ever so slightly; her magical aura seemed to sizzle as if it were hot grease in a pan on a stovetop. Pretending to fiddle with his camera, he smirked at her with his eyebrow raised as she walked over to where he was sitting after ordering her tea and muffin.

"Oh, shut up," Marie huffed at her friend, taking a seat across from him. Draco laughed as he took a few candid shots of Marie.

"I'm just curious whatever happened to 'We decided we're not going to have sex until the wedding'? That was you who said that at the beginning of October, right?"

"I don't appreciate your tone, thank you very much," Marie responded as the waitress brought her tea and muffin to the table, "starting _now_ we're not going to have sex until the wedding." She sipped her tea as Draco took a sip of his black coffee.

"You're hopeless," Draco said taking another candid shot.

"I'll accept that. Blaise knows what he's doing so really it's his fault; he's just... _mmm_...and I'm not going to be getting _any_ for three weeks so _clearly_ the _obvious_..."

"Okay, let's stop talking about how good my friend is in bed, thank you," another candid shot as Marie stuck her tongue at him, "what's the deal with today's shoot?" Two more candid shots.

Marie playful swatted at the camera. "Can you not, please? I'd rather you not have photos of me mid-chew. Anyway, I don't really have much to add outside of what we discussed. It's my new bridal lingerie line _Intimately by Sincerely, Marie_ , and it pretty much ranges from cutesy, candy-sweet to tastefully raunchy. Yes, tastefully raunchy is a thing so hush ya' mouth," Marie quickly added after a glance at Draco's raised eyebrow, "The model is a dear friend who I've known for years thanks to summer camp, and she started this studio called Make A Pointe right on the outside of the city. It's primarily Muggle but she does have a few Magical students. I've always wanted her to model for me but every time she was like, 'noooo I'm not a model, nooo you can find a professional blah blah blah,' then I pouted and finally she gave in. "

As Marie talked, Draco snapped photos of different things around the coffee shop that caught his eye. The table and the way their cups were places, the espresso machine steaming milk, the plant that had grown slightly from the last time they were here in the window. "Okay, so why do the shoot in Muggle London as opposed to Magical London?"

"Mainly because of the building where the shoot is going to be. But also, I didn't feel like going into Magical London today. I'm lazy, sue me."

Draco rolled his eyes as he finished up the last bit of his coffee. "I'm lazy, she says. Well, how about this? You cover lunch this afternoon _in Magical London_ and I promise I'll only complain a little about being in Muggle London," Draco stood putting some cash on the table for both their drinks and food.

Marie rolled her eyes, as she took a bite of her muffin. "You're such a baby."

…..

Hermione felt the comfortable pull in her muscles as she stretched against the wall. She had gotten to the vintage mansion, the set for the shoot, early and one of the assistant let her know that Ms. DuPonte would be there shortly but please feel free to stretch and get comfortable. She still couldn't understand why she had agreed to help Marie with her shoot, but the Black girl was persistent and wouldn't take no for an answer. The two girls met at an overnight summer camp for young Magical folks of all kinds when they were twelve years old and instantly became attached at the hip. Hermione participated in the dance program while Marie primarily was apart of the fashion designer program, though she did take some classes in the dance program with Hermione. Hermione felt a real bond with Marie; of course, she had Harry, Ron, and Ginny, but it was nice to have a friend outside of the Hogwarts walls. During the school year, the two would communicate via owl (though, it was always weird for an owl to be in New Orleans. These are the things you get away with when your parents were voodoo witch doctors) and during her fourth year, Hermione thought it would be fun to have Marie experience the Yule Ball. Hermione knew that Marie was still very interested in design and was amazed at her friend's work on the gown she wore. She smiled when Marie told her about a kind boy complimenting her dress at the punch bowl. Hermione often envied her friend's subtle confidence; Hermione would never be as bold to dance in public at Hogwarts. The fact is, dancing made Hermione feel beautiful and she would be crushed if someone were to ruin that for her. The camp occurred every summer and each summer, Marie would try and try and try some more to get Hermione to start her own studio and to share her gift with the world. After graduation, Hermione decided to work for the Ministry for a year because it was safe; she knew she could excel there. She kept dancing though, and Marie's voice kept pestering her. Finally, a year later, Hermione quit her job at the Ministry and plunged head first into opening Make A Pointe Studio in Muggle London. Hermione knew she was absolutely insane; she blamed this impulsive decision on Marie's impulsive decision to start a boutique _Sincerely, Marie_. You couldn't have paid Hermione to predict the success Make A Pointe would have. _Told your ass_ , she remembered Marie saying in one of their Skype sessions. The studio became very popular amongst parents with little girls who had dreams of being a ballerina and, to Hermione's hugest surprise, occasionally she found a few witches in her classes. At 28 years old, Hermione didn't know what she was most excited about: the success of Make A Pointe, Marie's permanent move to London, or the fact that Marie was getting married to the love of her life in three weeks. Hermione knew Blaise loosely from school, not really anything outside of classmates mainly because of the company he kept, but she knew he was head over heels in love with Marie as Marie was with him. For now, though, as she continued to stretch her toned ballerina legs on the windowsill of the shoot location, she still couldn't comprehend _why_ Marie insisted _she_ be the model for the shoot.

'Artistic, my ass,' Hermione mumbled, looking at the first of four lingerie items. At least the first one was tame…

Hermione heard the door open and her friend's laughter coming up the stairs as she stretched her arms to the sky, arching her back. Giving her arms a little shake, she walked to the stairs to greet Marie and stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes landed on the tall, gorgeous blond walking with her.

 _Wait…gorgeous?!_

…..

Draco followed Marie up the stairs of the vintage mansion in the English countryside. He had to admit, she found a beautiful location for the shoot. It was quite romantic, and as the sun would start to at later in the evening, he could imagine the light through the windows would be quite sultry. He was caught up looking around and planning the shots he would want, he completely missed when Marie was introducing him to the model. He snapped back to reality when Marie swatted him not-so-gently on the arm.

"Ow, what woman? What do you want?" He rubbed his arm gently, glancing up at the beautiful brown-haired girl standing across from him. Then he took a second look right as Marie said, "I said I want you to meet my friend and our model, Hermione Granger.

And for the first time since they graduated Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy saw Hermione Granger. Leggy, sultry-eyed Hermione Granger.

When did this happen, and why did he suddenly feel like he was doomed?


	4. Jambalaya

**The response and feedback to Camera Lenses and Pointe Shoes (CL &PS) has been amazing! You all are truly amazing. Now that summer quarter is over, I have some time to actually breathe and not be a student and hopefully get 2-3 more chapters posted before the beginning of the next quarter. I'm hoping this story will wrap up in 10-15 chapters, but truthfully I'm still trying to decide how I want it to end. **

**Also, I have this idea for a rather raunchy one-shot involving a Wizarding gentlemen's club so I'm deciding if I should write that up and post it before or after I finish CL &PS. Suggestions as to what I should do are welcome :)**

 **But now *drum roll please*...chapter 4!**

Being the daughter of voodoo witch doctors came with certain…"birthrights", once could say. One of these "birthrights" happened in the instant Marie saw Draco and Hermione made eye contact. Marie was born with a very keen awareness to atmosphere shifts and changes, especially in instances of people's emotions. Marie's parents told her stories about when she was a baby, Marie would cry if she sensed any negative energy enter into their home or would laugh uncontrollably when she sense intense happiness or joy. As she got older and matured, she was able to identify sensations in her body in relation to the feelings and emotions around her. The moment Draco and Hermione locked eyes, Marie felt a familiar tingling sensation in between her legs that usually only appeared when with her fiancé. _Well, that was unexpected_. Marie also felt an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. Fear? Confusion? And why her heart beating so fast all of a sudden? Tucking all of these signals in the back of her mind to examine later and watching the blond and brunette awkwardly try to avoid each other's gaze, Marie finally spoke up.

"Anyone want to fill me in on what's going on here?"

"Huh? Oh right…" Hermione seemed to snap out of the moment first, "Well, we actually…funny, really…Malfoy and I know each other already. From Hogwarts..."

"Oh, okay…and you're calling him Malfoy why?"

Draco finally found his voice again. "We weren't exactly friends…" he eyed the brunette standing across from him trying to gage how much or how little he should say about that. Hermione refused to look in his direction, but continued his line of thought. "We're weren't even associates, if we're being completely honest."

Marie chuckled awkwardly. "Well…that's peachy. Let me find out ten plus years later that you both hated the other's guts."

Draco scrunched up his face in confusion. "Wait, you never knew we knew each other? How is that possible?"

"You never mentioned each other; it was all 'Gryffindors suck' and 'Slytherins are evil', but no specific mentions," Marie said walking over to Hermione, giving her friend a quick hug before playing in her mid-length wavy chocolate hair trying to decide how to style it for the shoot. Maybe a bed-head look…

"Wait, wait, wait… _he_ was the blond boy you mentioned at the Yule Ball?!" Hermione's eyes widened as the pieces finally clicked together. She looked at Marie accusingly, as the black girl continued to mess with her hair as if nothing was wrong.

Draco stood confused for a moment, then ran a hand through his tousled hair and groaned as he came to an understanding. "And _this_ was the friend you were at Hogwarts visiting."

"And now that we have that out of the way," Marie said with finality in her voice, "let's get this shoot started. Hermione, to makeup and Draco, go get the set ready for the first outfit." Both parties continued to stand awkwardly. "Now, please."

Draco and Hermione shot in opposite directions, leaving Marie to her thoughts for a few moments. _Why do I get the feeling these two are going to be the death of me_ , she thought shaking out her kinky-coily hair before walking to help Draco with the set.

…

Hermione looked at Malfoy and Marie's reflection in the mirror as the make-up artist worked on her make-up for the shoot. The differences were quite obvious, but overall Hermione would have never guessed the two would ever be friends, let alone speak to each other. Especially with Malfoy's blood-purity shit. Hermione was aware of Marie's parentage but also knew that there were some differences in voodoo magic and wizarding magic. On the surface, it would seem that a "pureblood" is a "pureblood" across the board, but that wasn't always the case and Hermione just _knew_ that Malfoy would hold that to its core. Despite his narrow-minded, dated, prejudice beliefs, Hermione couldn't ignore that he had grown up…a lot. His black long sleeve button down with the sleeves cuffed to his elbows and black trousers made him look brooding and mysterious and oh so sexy and for a brief moment, Hermione's mind drifted to what could possibly be under that black long sleeve button down with the sleeves cuffed to his elbows and black trousers…

"So for your hair…I think I kind of like it as is. Maybe we'll just fluff it up? Tease it out a little for a slight bed-head look?" Marie's voice jolted Hermione out of her thoughts. She nodded, actually extremely grateful for the distraction; her thoughts had a tendency to go down rabbit holes and that was _not_ one she wanted to go down any time soon.

…..

Draco was mesmerized, watching Granger model Marie's clothing. Marie said the reason she wanted Hermione to model for the shoot was because as a dancer, she had an awareness of her body that gave that extra edge with modeling lingerie. Hermione doesn't have to do anything extra, Marie explained, she just has to move and the lingerie speaks to women everywhere. Frankly, Draco had no idea what the hell Marie was getting at, but her lingerie on Granger was surely speaking to him. Of course, he was on his best professional behavior at the shoot, giving direction when needed, providing feedback, and the like. But he couldn't ignore the fact the frizzy haired, self-righteous, pain in his ass from his youth had grown up. She could very well still be a self-righteous pain in his ass, but Granger damn sure no longer the frizzy haired, plain Jane he remembered from school. No, before him today was a grown ass woman. Her hair had tamed, and she had the solid body of a well-versed dancer. _With great tits and a fabulous ass_ , Draco noted mentally as he took a series of profile shots that just happened to display these assets. Her legs, though…Merlin, her legs. Draco understood that her legs were her livelihood so, of course, they would look great but still. He had to take a moment to get himself together by the time they got to the last outfit of the shoot: a lace bralette-panty set. For this outfit, Marie decided to pull Granger's hair up into a high messy bun and pin a veil to the bottom of the bun. Granger's legs seemed to go for days, and as he shot her in a multitude of different positions, on her toes or posed in a seated position, it took him a few moments to register that his mind had drifted to thinking about those legs wrapped around his waist as he had his deliciously wicked way with her…

"Okay, I think we got it," Draco said much more quickly, and high pitched, than he intended. Marie and the small staff cheered as Marie ran and tackle-hugged Hermione sending both girls into a fit of giggles. Draco snapped a few candid shots of the two friends hugging and laughing, and overheard Marie asking Hermione to join them for lunch.

"He was being a baby earlier so I promised him lunch in Diagon Alley after the shoot," Marie laughed rolling her eyes.

Hermione reached to her hair and gently took out the comb that held the veil in place. "Um…actually, I think I'm going to head to the studio and get some work done. But we'll get together soon? Girls night before the big day?"

Marie nodded enthusiastically and hugged her friend again. "Absolutely!"

Hermione smiled at Marie, and Draco felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her smile.

…

"Okay, so what's the deal with you and Hermione? Oh, wait…it's _"Granger"_ right?" Marie raised her perfectly arched eyebrow at Draco as she took a sip of the white wine she opted to have with her lunch of a rather large Caesar salad with blackened chicken. Marie held up her end of the deal about lunch, and the pair ended up at a new bistro that had raging reviews in the Wizarding community. The food was decent enough, but Marie definitely planned to make a nice pot of jambalaya when she got home. Growing up in New Orleans can spoil your tastebuds.

Draco eyed Marie from his seat as he casually swirled the red wine in his glass. "Well…Granger and I went to school together. She was an insufferable, pretentious, pain in the ass, and on top of all that she's a Muggleborn. She was brilliant, mind you, but dearest Daddy couldn't have a "Muggleborn"," he used air quotes which Marie interpreted as Draco using a nicer alternative for the actual word his father would have used, "besting the Malfoy heir. So I took to being a shithead towards her…which was easy enough because, like I said before, she was insufferable, pretentious, and a pain in my ass."

"So…basically you had a thing for her."

Draco's eyes widened momentarily before resume their cool nonchalant stare. "And you came to this conclusion, how?"

"Because I've known you long enough to know that if unless you have some interest in something, you leave things alone. If Hermione were really that annoying in school and it didn't bother you, you would've just ignored her…" Marie took a sip of wine, "…and ya' didn't."

Draco stared pointedly at his finished plate, trying to ignore the accuracy of Marie's statement. He had ordered the shepherd's pie; it was definitely tasty, but he hoped Marie was planning to cook jambalaya in the very near future…

"You know, I sensed something at the shoot. Between you and Hermione. I sensed a lot of somethings, actually. Care to share with the class what was going on with you back there?"

Draco choked on the sip of wine he had just taken before Marie's rather pointed question. He knew she knew _exactly_ what he was feeling, but he wasn't about to go into that right now. He wasn't about to entertain those thoughts with his best friend in public.

"Make some jambalaya for dinner and maybe we can have that discussion."

Marie squinted her eyes and put down enough Galleons to cover both meals and tip. "You know, sometimes I think you only like me because I'm a good cook and I cook for you."

Draco feigned offense. "What? Me? I'm so hurt that you would think of me in such low regard… _ow!_ Merlin, woman, I don't see how Blaise deals with this!" Draco rubbed the back of his head where Marie had swatted him on her way out of the restaurant. "But seriously…this jambalaya…"

 **So there it is! These next chapters are going to introduce a lot more Draco/Hermione, I promise, and also Marie's going to drop some knowledge. I also have a nice little sex scene written in my head for our favorite couple so please don't leave me! xx**


	5. Perfect

**Chapter 5 is ready to go! Enjoy!**

As luck would have it, Marie did not get to meet up with her Hermione before her wedding. Instead, a week and a half before marrying to love of her life, Marie fell ill. Violently ill. Between the fever, the puking, the body aches and cramps, and having to deal with both Draco and Blaise being sweet, overprotective shitheads, Marie wasn't sure which was the worst part of these past few days. Thankfully, the fever and body aches seemed to subside after a few days, but her stomach was still in knots and there were still bouts of nausea. While she wasn't able to see Hermione in person, Marie did make time to talk to her friend on the phone.

"Marie, stop being ridiculous. You know all you have to do is say the word and I would be over there in a heartbeat."

"I know, because you're an absolute doll," Marie said groggily, "but I don't know what I have and I don't want to pass it to you. " Marie heard her front door open and the voices of her two favorite English men enter her home. "Plus, Blaise and Draco are on a hundred right now and I care about you way too much to subject you to them."

Hermione laughed over the other end of the phone. "You're so kind. Well, I'll let you go so you can try to get some rest. Love you!"

"Love you too, darlin'! See you soon, babe." Marie ended the call, before getting out of bed to check on Draco and Blaise. Truth be told, she was insanely grateful for her boys. While they may have been going slightly overboard, they were doing a great job taking care of her. Draco took the lead of getting the photos from the shoot edited and to the appropriate magazines and onto _Sincerely, Marie_ 's website (though Marie had to walk Draco through how to use her computer, and no, it didn't involved throwing her brand new Mac at the wall) and Blaise tried to make her mom's healing soup (though he did almost burn her kitchen down…and the soup came out beyond terrible). They weren't perfect, and they were hers. And though she braced herself for whatever they were doing in her kitchen, Marie knew she wouldn't have it any other way. Blaise and Draco were putting away medicine and starting a pot of soup, something they could make that didn't result in flames, when Marie padded barefoot into the kitchen. Blaise smiled and walked over to his future bride.

"Hello, beautiful," he said in his low voice that made Marie weak in the knees every time.

"Ha, I feel anything but beautiful right now," Marie retorted. The past few days, Marie could barely sit up or move, let alone put on real clothes or do something to her hair. Today was the first day Marie actually attempted to "get dressed" and it resulted in a simple grey romper. Her hair was tied up with a scarf, the style resembling a pineapple. Nope, Marie can't say "beautiful" described anything she felt these past few days.

Blaise walked over to Marie and wrapped his arms around her. "You're always beautiful, darling. Not always glamorous, but always without a doubt beautiful," he said, placing a gentle kiss to the top of her forehead.

"Hate to ruin your moment," Draco said closing the cabinet door rather forcefully, "but I'm ruining your moment."

"You're such a buzz kill, I hope you know that," Marie teased, leaving her fiancé's embrace to give Draco a hug and kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for my medicine and my soup."

Draco hugged his friend back, and went back to stirring the chicken and rice soup. Draco hated seeing Marie sick; he had only experienced it a few times since her move to London and it terrified him. Marie was insanely energetic and fiercely independent, and when she got sick all of it disappeared. She was still independent, if not more when she was sick, but her energy levels dropped and Draco hated to see him friend like that. Getting sick barely a week before her wedding, Draco imagined, was the last thing on her to-do list. Both Draco and Blaise knew it stressed her out and that was probably part of the reason her stomach was still messing with her, but they did their best to make sure she was taken care of these past few days.

Draco still couldn't believe his best friends were getting married. As he poured the soup in to three bowls and put some crackers on a plate, he watched them discuss wedding details at the kitchen table and couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. Jealousy? No, not jealousy. Longing, maybe? Draco couldn't name it, but he knew what Blaise and Marie had was something he wanted for himself. If Draco was going to be completely honest with himself, the bachelor life was starting to get old. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy weren't necessarily the best example for a healthy and loving marriage, so Draco figured he could spare himself the drama by just avoiding it all together. But as he watched his friends fall in love with each other, he soon started to feel that he was missing out on something. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the bachelor life, but it didn't feel as fulfilling anymore. His mind wandered to seeing Granger at the photo shoot, and he felt his heart start to beat faster for God knows what reason. He hadn't seen or heard from the girl since they graduated, so him still thinking about her since the shoot confused him. From what he's heard though the grapevine, she had worked at the Ministry for sometime before starting her dance studio, which he had to assume was in Muggle London because he hadn't seen or heard of it. Draco couldn't deny Granger had grown into a gorgeous woman, but remembering how she was in school made his hard-on deflate. Draco got over his prejudice against non-Purebloods so long ago, it would probably shock most of the Wizarding community, so that wasn't why he hated the brunette. No, he hated her because she was annoying and so damn self-righteous. Someone had to put her ground her and keep her head from getting too big with air during school, right? Then he thought about what Marie said during their lunch that day, and he knew she was right. He hated when she was right. He wouldn't admit he "had a thing" for Granger because _of course_ that wasn't the case. _No…no, definitely not…_ Draco thought as he brought the soup and crackers to Marie and Blaise before sitting down with his own bowl, joining the conversation about seating charts and something else wedding related. Draco settled to pushing the confusing feelings to the back of his mind. He'd sort them out eventually.

….

Draco and Blaise had to fight for Marie to rest the last few days before the wedding ("What do you mean 'go lie down'? I have _my_ dress to finish, I have _your_ suit jacket to finish pinning…'), but despite all the push and pull, Marie's mystery illness finally cleared. The boys decided that Draco should spend the night at her apartment the night before the wedding just in case there was another wave of illness, and also to help her pack her apartment the next morning. 'Let us take care of you, dammit' they had said; by this point Marie's eyes started to glow a gold color around the irises, something that only happened when she was getting truly angry, so the boys decided to stop pushing it. In the end, Marie begrudgingly agreed that it would be best for Draco to stay so the morning could be quick and painless. Marie and Blaise decided to live in the Zabini Estate in Wizarding London once they were married, and while it was a decision she was happy with, it brought up some uncomfortable feelings for Marie concerning her new married life. Marie had trouble sleeping that night and ended up watching the sunrise from her balcony that morning. As she stirred the mixture of hot water, honey, lemon, and cinnamon in her mug, she thought about the day ahead. Today was the day she would become Mrs. Blaise Zabini. _Mrs. Marie DuPonte Zabini_ , she thought looking down at her ruby and diamond engagement ring. Marie could feel her stomach churning and she was pretty sure it wasn't another wave of nausea. She took a sip of the hot drink as she sat with her thoughts, and she heard the shutter of Draco's camera go off behind her.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up," she said, making room for Draco on patio furniture.

"No worries, I'm usually up around this time anyways," Draco said taking a seat next to her, "You, on the other hand, usually are not. Anything on your mind?"

Marie didn't respond immediately as she continued to gaze at the ring gracing her left hand. Draco noticed her line of vision, but chose not say anything. Instead, he took some shots of the sunrise and the city skyline; Marie would talk when she was ready. After a few minutes of calm silence between the two, Marie put her mug down on the table in front of her and leaned over onto Draco's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I was such a pain these past few days."

"You were no where close to being a pain, darling. Knowing you, I would've been more shocked if you didn't push back." Draco placed his camera on the table and put his arm around her shoulders and rested his head atop of hers. "I just wish you would let us take care of you more."

"That's just it, though. I don't _need_ you to take care of me; I can take care of myself. Just because I'm sick, or I'm getting married, or whatever doesn't mean I need for you guys tripping over yourselves to take care of me."

"We know you don't _need_ us, silly girl. We know you're fiercely independent, and it's one of the many things we love about you. We don't do it because you need us to, we do it because we _want_ to and you _deserve_ it. You don't have to be strong all the time, Marie."

Marie had trying to hold back tears all morning, but she couldn't them back anymore. She had no doubt about wanting to marry Blaise and spend the rest of her life with him, but she was _terrified_ about being a wife to one the Wizarding London's most elite pureblood bachelors. While Marie had an amazing love template looking at her parents' relationship, who would be celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary next month, Marie knew she couldn't fool herself that the rules weren't going to be different in the Wizarding world. Most of the pureblood wives she saw were more of the socialite type, and while it was fine, it definitely wasn't Marie. She already stood out in their world, being the Black American with the strange accent (Blaise was black so that wasn't so much the standout part as much as it was being Black American), and the fact that she was such a polar opposite from the norm made Marie a little nervous about navigating this new territory. Draco just sat quietly, giving her space to cry and gently rubbing her arm. After it seemed she had gotten the majority of her feelings out, Draco spoke.

"Marie, you are one of the most special people I've ever met. You're such a gem and no one can ever take that away from you. Knowing you has made me a better man, and it damn sure made Blaise a better man. The love you two have for each other is a rarity in this world, and yes you both may trip along the way, but you two are going to create what you want your marriage to look like and your love is going to carry it through. Don't worry about if you're going to be like everyone else because you were never meant to be like everyone else. You were meant to be Marie DuPonte and, between you and me, she's pretty badass." Draco poked her in the side at the last bit of his speech, knowing she was ticklish.

Marie giggled and wiped the silent tears that had started to fall down her cheeks at her friend's kind words. Draco wasn't a super emotional guy, but he had his moments. Draco reached out to tap Marie's nose lightly, causing her to laugh airily at her friend's silliness. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as he hugged her just as tightly back and said softly, "You're going to be perfect."

 **So I thought about ending this chapter with Draco or Marie providing some comic relief at the end of their intimate moment, but in the end I think it's best I didn't. I wanted to show a more tender side to Draco; he can be a sweetheart when he wants to be haha. Next chapter is going to be the wedding which I am** **soooo excited to write and will definitely include more Draco/Hermione goodness! :D Keep the reviews coming; they are truly wonderful and special! xx**


	6. Married

**Yay weddings! This chapter was so much fun to write; I watch a lot of Say Yes To The Dress and used to work in bridal so I hope you all enjoy how I "designed" Marie's gown (and the rest of the chapter, of course. Here we go!**

The morning of the wedding went a lot calmer than expected. Draco helped Marie pack her apartment (meaning he waved his wand and everything was settled in less than ten minutes) and the two Apparated to the Zabini Estate. In keeping with tradition, Blaise and Marie would remain in different parts of the estate until the ceremony later that afternoon. The ceremony, they decided, was going to be private in the gardens of the estate and the reception would be held in a banquet hall in Muggle London that would be cloaked to ensure privacy. Marie knew that everyone was going to be buzzing about what the famed Ms. DuPonte was going to wear to her own wedding, and frankly she didn't want her wedding to be a spectacle littered with paparazzi and interviewers. Now, if the photos took of the affair just "happened" to be "leaked" to the press…well, she couldn't really control that, now could she? The weather was kind to them that day in that it wasn't too cold and the skies were clear, but a warming charm was still cast considering as the day went on it would get colder. Marie's parents had arrived a few minutes after Marie and Draco and the group enjoyed a light breakfast before going their separate directions to start preparing for the ceremony; Draco and Marie's father to where Blaise was and Marie and her mother to the bridal suite. Just as they were about to separate, Hermione arrived to the estate having been invited by Marie to get ready with them. Draco and Hermione were clearly shocked to see the other person, Hermione looking down and shuffling her feet awkwardly and Draco trying to look anywhere but at her, but they two said a cordial 'hello' before Draco rather quickly directed Marie's father to the suite where Blaise was. Marie's mother, who had an uncanny resemblance to Angela Bassett, looked at her daughter with a raised eyebrow, and Marie knew her mother experienced the exact same feelings she had a few weeks ago during the photo shoot. Both mother and daughter shared a small secretive and knowing smile before Marie hugged Hermione and the trio walked towards the bridal suite to get ready for Marie and Blaise's wedding.

….

"Help me understand what the deal is between you and Draco," Marie said as Hermione added the last detail to Marie's wedding day make-up look, a slightly dramatized natural look with wing-tipped eyeliner and complimenting red lipstick.

Hermione sighed; damn Marie and her stupid sixth sense, she pouted mentally. "There's nothing to tell, really. He was a pureblood prat who made his life goal to make me miserable. We graduated and I hadn't heard about him since. Close your eyes." Marie did as she was instructed and Hermione pulled out her wand to cast a spell that would ensure Marie's make up with hold throughout the day. It was something Hermione created to ensure her makeup wouldn't melt from the stage lights when she was performing. "And done."

Marie looked in the mirror to admire Hermione's work. It was exactly what she wanted, nothing over the top but still very glamorous. Marie's mother had straightened and pin curled her hair prior to Hermione doing her makeup, so the only thing left to do was to take the pins out and style. Mrs. DuPonte and Hermione switched places so that Hermione could finish getting dressed.

"Okay, so he was a 'pureblood prat', you were a 'self-righteous, pretentious, pain-in-the-ass…his words, not mine!..." Marie quickly added at the glare Hermione sent her way, "…I'm waiting for the day one of you tell me y'all fucked."

Hermione tripped as she tried to put on her heel at Marie's bluntness. "Marie! I can't belive…I mean…your mother is right there!"

Mrs. DuPonte laughed heartily as she took the last pin from her daughter's hair. "Chile, you act like I didn't give birth to this girl! She's brash, but there's one thing that's stayed trued about my Marie…she don't speak nothin' but the truth." The wise older DuPonte gave a pointed look at Hermione.

Hermione knew her cheeks were flushed by the two DuPonte women's comments. Quietest kept, Hermione hadn't been able to get the blond English man out of her mind since seeing him at the shoot and for the life of her she had no idea why she couldn't shake him. I mean, it wasn't as if they were anything in school and it's not like one can develop feelings for someone they hadn't seen in years, right?

 _Unless, of course, there were always feelings for said someone_ …Hermione shook her head of the intrusive thought. No…no, that wasn't it. Couldn't be. Refusing to give the idea any more attention, Hermione went back to putting on the black t-strap stilettos to compliment the emerald green sleeveless dress with a v-neck collar. The dress was a _Sincerely, Marie_ original that Marie designed for Hermione's grand opening of Make A Pointe and Hermione never had another reason to wear it. Her best friend's wedding seemed most appropriate. After putting on her earrings and grabbing her clutch, Hermione walked over to Marie and her mother, just as Mrs. DuPonte did the final touched to the style. Hermione felt herself start to tear up as Marie looked at her through the reflection in the mirror. Marie arched an eyebrow at the girl.

"What's getting you choked up, lady?"

Hermione laughed and quickly wiped a tear that escaped. "You're getting married."

Marie took a deep breath and stood from the chair she had been sitting in for the past hour and a half. She stood in from of her friend and took her hands in her own. "Yea…yea, I'm getting married." The two women embraced tightly and Marie was the first to pull away.

"Okay, help me get in my dress before we both start crying and can't stop."

…

Draco and Blaise were standing at the bottom of the stairs in the foyer of the estate when Marie walked out. Both men looked quite dapper in their classic black tuxedos, Blaise wearing a black bowtie and Draco a satin black tie. Blaise had his back turned to the stairs so it was Draco, who had just taken a photo of the groom, who noticed Marie first before his friend took notice of his gaze a turned around. Now both Draco and Blaise had seen Marie in a number of gowns and formal attire, but walking down the stairs she looked absolutely breathtaking. Her ivory gown was a satin, strapless, mermaid cut with a sweetheart neckline; the back of the gown was as low it could be without fear of the top of the dress falling off. The train of the gown trailed behind her a significant number of steps behind her as she walked, and peaking out from the bottom of her gown were ivory stilettoes with a gold plated heel. Marie's makeup was done flawlessly with a complimenting red lipstick, but what _really_ took the cake was her hair. Neither Draco nor Blaise had ever seen her with straight hair so they were shocked by how long her hair really was. Coming down well past her bust in soft ringlets, she had opted to pin her hair to the side with a gold pin that had been in the DuPonte family for years so the curls fell over her right shoulder. She wore very minimal jewelry, the prominent feature being a ruby and diamond ear cuff modeled after her engagement ring adorning her left ear. Marie reached to bottom of the stairs and walked towards her fiancé and best friend who still had yet to say anything.

"Well…? Say something."

Both men stood entranced for a few moments longer before Blaise walked forward, took Marie in his arms and placed a tender kiss on her lips. Draco took a quick photo of the couple in their intimate embrace, before stepping forward to hug the couple. This was it, he thought with a smile as he watched the couple walked towards the ceremony space, his best friends were really getting married.

 **Woohoo! So what did you all think? I knew when writing Marie's mother, I wanted to model her after Angela Bassett's character in American Horror Story: Coven (who hilariously is also named Marie...totally not done on purpose I swear lol) Hope you enjoyed the brief Hermione/Draco moment in this chapter; definitely more to come next chapter. Your reviews and support remain wonderful! xx**


	7. Questions

**Chapter 7! It's starting to get good!**

Love was embodied in Blaise and Marie during the ceremony. It was every look, every touch, every word and vow the couple said to each other. Even Shacklebolt, the current Minister of Magic, had to take a moment to get himself together in the presence of such love and adoration. Both Marie and Blaise became teary during the ceremony, and by the time they were announced husband and wife, Marie was very grateful for Hermione's make-up holding spell because she was sure she would look a mess otherwise. They were really married! Marie briefly made eye contact with Hermione as she walked back up the aisle with her husband- _she had a freakin' husband!_ -and smiled at her friend who also had tears streaming down her face. At the end of the aisle stood Draco with his camera in hand, ready to take a photo of the new Mr. and Mrs. Zabini. Draco would never admit to anyone that a tear or two…or a few may or may not have slipped out of his eyes throughout the ceremony. Those who wanted to Apparate or Floo to the reception space, which Marie and Blaise made sure had a fireplace, were given the name of the reception hall. The Zabini's, the DuPonte's, Draco, and Hermione were some of the first to arrive at the venue and slowly, more guests began to trickle into the banquet hall. As the arrivals began to level out and it seemed that everyone had settled at their dining tables, Draco walked across the dance floor to the front of the hall where a piano resided. Quickly casting a spell to amplify his voice above the crowds, he spoke.

"Good evening, everyone. Most people in the room know me or know _of_ me in one capacity or another, but I'm Draco…Malfoy, Draco Malfoy and typically, I'm the guy behind the camera. Surprisingly enough, I'm not a fan of public speaking and I prefer to let my camera do the talking," he paused as he taped his fingertips on the camera hanging around his neck, "but…today, a photo wouldn't be enough. Words honestly wouldn't be enough. I met Blaise and Marie at different points in my life and…well, they've been amazing. More than amazing, truthfully, and I'm truly thankful to call both of you friends. So, here's to you…to Blaise and Marie!"

The crowd awed and applauded at Draco's touching speech as he took the camera from around his neck and placed it next to him as he took a seat on the piano stool. "So little known fact about Marie is that she loves a little known artist by the name of Sam Smith," the audience laughed because it was, in fact, a very well-known fact, "and for their first dance as husband and wife, Marie and Blaise wanted 'Make It To Me'. So Blaise and I schemed and colluded and decided that it might be a little more special for her if it were a live performance from someone who appreciates everything she is. So Marie, this one is for you and your new husband…"

Marie was convinced she was out of tears from the ceremony, and then Draco started playing and singing one of her favorite songs, and a whole new batch of tears hit her like a freight train. Dancing with her husband as her best friend sang their first dance…what? It was just perfect, Marie thought resting her head against her husband's chest.

Hermione, who was talking with Marie's parents when Draco stood up to make his toast, was now fighting to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. He could _sing_? Not only was he an amazing photographer (she looked up M Photography after the shoot and was truly blown away; he truly had a gift), but he could sing _and_ play the piano? Well, that just wasn't fair; you can't be an amazing photography, an amazing friend apparently, a singer and musician, _and_ fine as fuck. Hermione downed the rest of her champagne in one gulp when the last thought registered in her brain and watched it refill as each champagne glass was designed to do. Mrs. DuPonte must has sensed the emotional shift in Hermione because she noticed the older women stifle a chuckle. Crap, she was in deep.

The crowd applauded as Draco finished the last chord of the song, and he was tackle-hugged by Marie before he could barely stand up from the piano stool. After wiping her tears, Marie addressed her guests thanking them for joining her and Blaise on their special day. The couple gave a few more words of gratitude and appreciation, when finally Marie lifted her glass announcing it was time to party. Instantly, upbeat, danceable music began to play and Marie pulled her husband to the dance floor as their guests started to follow suit. Marie attempted to pull Draco to dance with her but 'I'm fine taking photos' which resulted in Marie just rolling her eyes and scoffing at him before finding Hermione to dance with her. Draco watched as Hermione and Marie danced and laughed with each other, taking a few shots of the two women. He would be completely blind to say that the brunette looked anything but stunning in her emerald dress that came to her knees and showed off her amazing legs. Green was a great color on her, in Draco's opinion. And she looked great with her hair up, too; it showed off that beautiful neck of hers...

Dammit, there it was again! Draco pushed the thought to the back of his head and wandered around the hall taking photos of the bride, groom, and guest and before he knew it, it was the end of the night. The guests had left, Blaise Apparated Marie's parent to New Orleans and came back, and the final people remaining were Blaise, Marie, Draco and Hermione back at the Zabini Estate. The four sat in the living room sipping an aged Firewhiskey, Blaise and Marie cuddled together on the couch, Draco in one chair and Hermione in the other. Both Draco and Hermione kept stealing glances of the other person, thinking that they were being discreet when in reality Blaise and Marie weren't fools and knew the two had some suppressed something going on. Hence the bottle of aged Firewhiskey, which was just about finished leaving everyone nicely buzzed. After talking for another thirty minutes or so, Marie's eyes started to droop heavily, and eventually she and Blaise decided to call it a night leaving a buzzed Draco and slightly more buzzed Hermione sitting in the living room.

The two sat awkwardly across from each other, fiddling with their glasses before Draco cleared his throat and attempted to break the awkwardness.

"So, um….Marie wasn't sure if you were going to stay the night or not, so there's a room set up for you…"

Hermione looked up at the youngest Malfoy, blinking a few times before registering what he said. "Oh…oh, yea…yes she told me. That's perfect," she went to stand up and quickly tripped over her heels. Draco stood to help her balance herself as she giggled ("I promise I'm more coordi..co-…I'm better than this") and proceeded to unbuckle her shoes. For a dancer, Hermione had beautiful feet and Draco was mesmerized as he watched her flex and point her toes stretching her feet from being in heels for the majority of the day. He cleared his throat to bring him back to the present moment and gently placed a hand at her lower back. Both he and Hermione ignored the tingling sensation that ran through their bodies at the simple touch.

"I'll, um, I'll take you to your room." With one hand on her back and the other taking her hand to steady her, Draco guided Hermione up the stairs to the room Marie showed him earlier. Draco made a mental note to have a conversation about Marie's room choice considering the room he would be staying in was the room across the hall. _Sneaky little witch_ , he thought. He watched Hermione fumble with the door handle for a few moments before Draco, rolling his eyes, opened the door to the large bedroom with windows over looking the garden. A set of pajamas was lying at the foot of the queen-sized bed and fresh towels were sitting on the vanity next to the bathroom. Hermione stumbled slightly as she walked into the room before doing a single pirouette and falling back onto the bedding, laughing in her alcoholic buzz. Draco couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the brunette's drunken antics.

"Okay…so, you're here and settled. And you're good? You look good…I mean…you look fine…no, wait…"

Hermione sat up on her arms watching Malfoy fluster over his words and laughed to herself. He was really cute when he was stumbling over himself.

"That was really sweet, by the way," Hermione said, deciding to put Draco out of his misery and embarrassment, "what you said and did at the reception. It seems you care a lot about Marie."

Draco ran a hand through his hair, his tuxedo jacket and tie long gone leaving him in his white collared shirt with the top few buttons unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to the elbow. "Yea…she's wonderful," he walked into the room and sat at the head of the bed, "Crazy how a brief meeting at a punch bowl during fourth year led to all of this, hmm?"

Hermione nodded in agreement, settling at the foot of the bed. "What's crazy is that we never knew the six degrees of separation between us; I don't know how we managed to go this long without running into each other."

"Also true, strangely enough. Well…we're here now…"

Hermione looked up at the blond Englishman seated at the head of the bed. Before she completely registered what she was doing, she was seated next to him and staring into his molten grey eyes. Draco arched an eyebrow at the girl as she reached up to run her fingers through his trademark platinum locks.

"Granger…?" This had to be the alcohol's doing; Granger wouldn't do this on her own. Not that he minded, per say; secretly Draco loved when women played in his hair.

"You're right," Hermione whispered as she continued her ministrations in his hair and started trailing her fingertips down his jaw line, "We are here now."

Draco let out a ragged breath before taking her upper arms to push her back slightly.

"What are you doing? In no universe is this a good idea…" Yupp, this had to be the alcohol.

"Okay, so what? I know you felt the same thing I did when we saw each other at the shoot, and I know Marie cornered you about it the same way she did me. No, I'm not drunk, we're both consenting adults, so why not? Let's skip the awkward midsection and just…"

Hermione never finished her sentence as Draco pulled her back to his body, crashing his lips over hers. They both moaned into the kiss as Draco reached his hand into the seas of curls on her head, the other angling her head so that he could continue kissing her deeply. Hermione's dress rose up her legs as she went to straddle Draco's lap; she wrapped her arms around his neck as Draco slid his hands from her hair and head to around her waist. Flipping them over so Hermione was now lying on her back, Draco rolled his hips into her cause her to throw her head back with a moan giving Draco access to kiss down her neck and behead her ear. Hermione leaned forward to sit up and looked Draco in his eyes, which had turned to a darker shade of their usual molten grey, as she reached behind her to unzip her dress and lift the dress over her head to reveal a black lacey bra and panty set. Draco took a deep breath as he took in her amazing physique as Hermione reach forward to unbutton his shirt revealing his pale and toned upper body. He hissed and shut his eyes at the feeling of her soft hands on his bare chest.

"What in Merlin's name are we doing, Granger?" He said roughly to no one in particular as Hermione fumbled with his belt buckle.

"We're skipping the awkward midsection," Hermione said, pulling him back down for a searing kiss as her hand wandered down his torso and into his pants to her final destination.

Draco didn't ask any more questions that night.

 **So what do you all think? I knew I wanted Draco and Hermione to hook up after the wedding because it was too perfect in my mind for it not to happen. I hope it doesn't seem that I'm rushing their relationship because that's not at all the purpose. Let me know your thoughts about the chapter; it was insanely fun to write! xx**


	8. A Word From Our Sponsors

**Hello all and thank you for you support of Camera Lenses and Pointe Shoes; it's been really fun getting into writing again and the response has been amazing! To think this silly idea that kept bothering in my sleep turned into a pretty great story is awesome, so to every follow, favorite, and review, I truly from the bottom of my happy little heart say THANK YOU! :D**

 **I'm currently working on the next chapter (the wonderful "morning after" chapter) so that should be posted in the next few days, and I also have an idea about how I want to end the story but we're still a few chapters away from that. I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy my brief wedding scene, and I got a few reviews saying they wished it were longer. I actually had a lot of scenes, some funny and some sentimental, in my head that I wanted to include but in the end decided to omit for length and relevance. If you all would like, I can include them at the end of the story, like an outtake or "Married-Revisited", so that you all can get a taste of how my imagination works lol.**

 **So shoot me reviews with your vote: wedding outtakes or leave as is? I'll announce the winner at the beginning of the next chapter! See you next update! xx**


	9. Eventually

**So the votes are in and counted anddddd ...*drumroll*...there shall be wedding outtakes at the end of the story! Thanks for your reviews and feedback on the idea:) In the mean time, here's the next update!**

The morning after the wedding, Blaise decided that there was no better sound in the world than the soft sighs Marie made as he gently kissed her inner thighs making his way to her womanhood. And Marie decided she would be more than happy to wake up to her husband doing so on a regular basis. Knowing his wife- he still couldn't believe this beautiful creature was his wife now- could get rather loud, Blaise stopped his ministrations momentarily to murmur a wandless silencing charm on their bedroom before continuing the sweet slow torture up Marie's thigh. Marie spread her legs wider to allow easier access to her jewel and Blaise took the opportunity to slowly enter a finger into her entrance. He chuckled against her core at the pleasurable hiss that emerged from her before using his tongue to teasingly flick against her clit, which resulted in Marie arching her back slightly off the bed. Reaching down, she scratched her fingernails over his head and not so gently tried to push his head further into her as to communicate to stop with the teasing. This, of course, made Blaise go even slower and exaggerate his teasing methods.

"Blaise, darlin'," Marie said leaning up on her elbows to look down at the black wizard in between her legs, "I love you and I'm so _haaaappy_ (hey, he may have been teasing her but he was still damn good at it) to be your wife, but I would hate to kill you less than 24 hours into our marriage because _ooooohhh fuck yes_ ," Marie didn't get to finish her threat because Blaise had decided that he was a starved man and Marie was his pancakes, bacon, eggs, and cheese grits (Marie had introduced him to cheese grits early in their relationship and, oh my God, he was never looking back now). The woman fell back onto the bed with a loud sigh and began unconsciously thrusting her hips in time with his ministrations. Blaise held her hips still with one arm as he used two fingers on his other hand to pump in and out of her until Marie found herself tumbling over the edge with a shudder than ran through her entire body. Marie felt her eyes flutter shut as she tried to steady her breathing after her orgasm while Blaise lazily kissed his way up her body until he placed a passionate kiss on her lips.

"Can I expect to wake up like that on a regular basis, Mr. Zabini?" Marie wrapped her arms and legs around her husband, pulling his already hard member into her heat. Both Blaise and Marie moaned at the intimate contact.

"I think I can arrange that, Mrs. Zabini," he murmured huskily against her lips before capturing them again as he and Marie made love again as husband and wife.

…

When Hermione woke up naked and sprawled across Draco Malfoy's also naked chest, she was insanely confused on why in the hell it felt so _perfect_. It wasn't like she planned to have sex with Draco Malfoy after their best friend's wedding, and she wouldn't be able to tell you exactly why she decided to lean in and kiss him the night before, but this moment of lying in his arms just felt so…so right. Shifting slowly and quietly as to not wake him up, Hermione moved back to get a better look at the young Malfoy. He looked so cute when he was sleeping, with his hair all disheveled and his lips slightly parted; it was like he didn't have a care in the world. Hermione reached up to push back some hair that had fallen in his face and as soon as she made contact Draco began to stir. As he slowly opened his eyes to find the curly-haired brunette lying next to him with her hand in his hair, Draco couldn't help but think how much he enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her. He turned on his side to face her, taking a deep breath before looking into her swirling brown eyes. The two simply stared at each other for what seemed like hours, waiting for the other to speak while wanting to preserve the intimate moment of silence. Draco took a deep breath before taking the plunge.

"So, now what happens?"

"I have no idea." Hermione removed her hand from his hair, and tucked it under her head. Draco then reached forward to tuck a group of stray curls behind her ear.

"Well…while we figure it out, how about breakfast?"

Hermione smiled and Draco felt his heart skip a beat. "Breakfast sounds great."

…

Marie and Blaise were already downstairs in the kitchen by the time Draco and Hermione joined them. Blaise sat at the kitchen island cutting some fruit as Marie checked the stove where she had scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage cooking simultaneously on different stove eyes. On another stove eye, a pot of cheese grits simmered and Marie was getting ready to start making her mom's recipe for pain perdu, a French toast-like dish. Watching Marie cook was like watching Merlin himself; with her still-straightened hair thrown into a lazy bun atop her head and a red pajama romper, she padded barefoot around the kitchen stirring this and flipping that. It was quite amazing, actually. She was flipping the first round of pain perdu on the griddle when she noticed Hermione and Draco walk into the kitchen.

"Good morning! We're sadly out of coffee but there's juice in the fridge and I can put water on for tea for anyone who's interested," she said cheerily, barely looking up from her cooking tasks.

Draco walked over, quickly kissing her on the cheek before walking over to take a seat next to Blaise. Hermione gave Marie a side hug and quick kiss on the cheek.

"Don't worry about it, _Mrs. Zabini_ ," Hermione emphasized her friend's new name, which resulted in a smile and giggle from the girl, "I'll take care of drink orders. I know you're going to want green tea, but what about you two gentlemen?"

Hermione put the now full teakettle on the last remaining stove eye, and began searching the cupboards for the tea as the four fell into comfortable conversation. Blaise noticed Draco and Hermione seemed rather chummy with each other, but opted to wait until Marie caught it because that would prove to be far more interesting. The kettle started to hiss indicating the water was ready just as Marie finished cooking the last round of pain perdu, and she began plating the different foods as Hermione poured hot water into mugs for tea. After a kind scolding from Marie that they weren't just going to sit there and be waited on like this was the 1950s, the boys set the table as the ladies placed the food and mugs on the table. Marie did, however, make her husband his tea the exact way he liked it- earl grey with light cream- and passed it to him across the table. It was then she noticed Draco almost gazing at Hermione for a moment before seeming to shake himself out of his trance to start fixing his plate. Marie then looked over at Hermione, her hair loosely French braided minus a few strands that framed her face, and noticed her cheeks seemed a lot rosier than usual. Trying to be as non-creepy as possible, Marie reached to get the eggs to cover her real intention of catching a quick sniff of Hermione. Pursing her lips at the recognition of Draco's cologne on Hermione, Marie looked over to her husband who made a show of sipping his tea as if he had no idea what his wife just discovered. He saw a smirk grace Marie's face and knew the show was about to begin. God, she would've made a fabulous Slytherin.

"So Hermione, how'd you sleep last night?" Marie asked innocently as she took a bite of the pain perdu.

Hermione nodded as she finished chewing and swallowing her bite of food before responded. "Well, thank you. The bed was quite comfortable; you have great taste in sheets, Blaise."

Blaise raised his tea mug to Hermione. "Thank you, you're too kind."

"And Draco, what about you? Sleep well?" Marie continued her line of questioning.

"It was fine; probably some of the best sleep I've gotten in a while quite honestly." He stole a glance at Hermione, whose cheeks began to flush at the underhanded compliment.

"Well, ain't that swell? So glad to hear it. Was your bed comfortable as well? Nice…sheets?"

Draco eyed his friend, getting a sense that her line of questioning was leading to a punch line. "Yes…nice sheets…"

"Hmm…so both of your beds had nice sheets," Marie took a sip of her green tea with honey, "That's just _wonderful_ to hear…nice, fresh, clean, fresh-out-the-wash sheets…"

Draco knew it was coming. Hermione knew it was coming. Blaise knew it was coming. They just had to brace themselves for the shoe to drop. Marie took another slow sip of tea, closing her eye to make a show of savoring the taste. Finally, after deciding she's been a dick long enough, she propped her chin on her hand as her arm rested on the arm of her chair.

"I knew you two were gonna fuck eventually."

Hermione placed a hand over her face, now completely pink from embarrassment as laughter spilling from her mouth as Draco looked at the ceiling shaking his head at Marie's antics. Blaise simply smiled and shook his head, looking at the amazing, gorgeous, and slightly crazy woman seated across from him. Yupp, definitely would have made a fabulous Slytherin.

 **As always, your feedback is appreciated! xx**


	10. Stay

**This one's a little lengthy, but I think it's worth it.** **Enjoy!**

Marie and Blaise decide to take a month long vacation, spending two weeks in Marie's hometown of New Orleans, and the second two weeks in Italy where Blaise's family had a home ("This is like 10 homes in one, hun…"). While Marie and Blaise frolicked in the first month of marital bliss, Draco and Hermione's relationship…Situationship? Friendship? Situ-relation-friendship?...also began to frolic. They weren't a couple, per say, but they did go out a few times in the month Marie and Blaise were away. A dinner here, a coffee shop there, an impromptu photo shoot in the park where Hermione looked absolutely radiant despite being bundle by a scarf and coat in the chilly November air. They got to know each other's life story, their passions and irritations, their likes and dislikes; Draco invited her into his home, a "modest" townhouse, and gave her a tour of the second floor, which he turned into his studio, a place where only Marie and Blaise had seen. Hermione invited Draco to one of her beginner's classes, where he sat amongst moms and dads watching their daughters and sons learn to plié and point and first position and second position. Watching Hermione in her standard ballet outfit of a leotard, skirt, tights, and flat ballet shoes and her hair pulled into the classic ballerina bun atop her head, Draco could think of a few positions he wanted her in but he kept that to himself until the class was over. They danced together in the privacy of his home or her studio. He taught her the basics of photography. Without any knowledge or understanding of how and why, the unlikely pair continued to grow closer.

It was something Marie noticed immediately upon her and Blaise's return to London. The four went to dinner about a week or so after the couple returned, and Marie felt a major shift in the growing situ-relation-friendship between her two friends. While there were still questions and reservations in both of them, there was a longing for more. More of what, Marie wasn't sure of yet, but both parties wanted more. Marie joked with her husband later that night, betting the two would be at least engaged by the time their one-year anniversary rolled around. December came and went, the four celebrating Christmas and the New Year together with Marie's parents who were just as hilarious and blunt as their daughter, and come January everyone seemed to fit back into their regular groove of life.

This is how Hermione found herself sitting on a couch in a café near her studio, laptop propped on her lap atop a pillow and a folder open on the table. She was finalizing the vendors and catering for the fundraising dinner and showcase she hosted every June to raise money for her dance studio. This year, she asked Draco (yes, he was Draco now occasionally) if he would be willing to auction some of his work which he readily agreed to so in addition to the dinner and showcase, there would be a silent auction for a few pieces and an opportunity to win a photo shoot by M. Photography. The showcase always featured performances from her students in addition to other dancers in the area, and Marie always graciously offered to do simple costume design for the showcase. Hermione was so focused on her work that she didn't notice the aforementioned black woman walk into the café until she sat down across from her. Marie's boutique was also close to the quaint café so it wasn't unusual for the two to run into each other or plan to meet there after work.

"Hey, darlin'. How's everything coming?" Marie asked taking a sip of her hot chocolate. She assumed Hermione had finished for the day at the studio and was working on the benefit based on her dance attire and ballet bun. Marie still wasn't quite sure how the girl managed to get _all_ of that hair into such a slicked-back, no hair out of place bun, but whatever she did it and that's what mattered.

Hermione took a deep breath, pursing her lips. "It's going. So far, everything is lining up well but I'm trying to cover my ass and prepare for all possible scenarios. I'm supposed to go to dinner with Draco tonight but I may ask if he would mind a working dinner so I can finalize these performances."

Marie was about to ask how things with Draco had been going, when she noticed Hermione's gaze look to the door of the café and start waving. Turning around, Marie noticed Hermione's friends Harry and Ginny Potter and Ron Weasley enter that café. She didn't know them well at all, but she knew of them through Hermione and ran into them whenever she went to one of Hermione's performances.

"Oh, are you meeting them? I'm sorry, I don't want to intrude…"

"No, no, no, you're fine. I didn't know they would be here; they don't usually come to Muggle London," Hermione said as the trio walked over to where the girls were sitting. Hermione stood to hug her friends, and Marie gave a polite smile and greeting as the three settled into seating with her and Hermione.

"We went to stop by your studio to sign Lily up for dance classes," Ginny said, adding that Lily was her and Harry's five-year-old daughter at Marie's questioning look, "and when we saw it was closed we figured you were here so we thought we'd give it a shot."

"Well, you can tell Lily that Aunt Mimi is very excited to see her for her first class next week," Hermione smiled, making a quick note in her planner to add her goddaughter to her roster.

"Is Lily your only child?" Marie asked.

Harry and Ginny laughed as the couple shook their head. "Oh, that would be far to easy. We have three, two older boys and Lily's our youngest," Harry answered while Ginny adding, "Weasleys tend to be rather fertile. I'm the youngest of seven."

Marie's eye widened. "Seven? Your mother had _seven_ children? I'm guessing the gentleman sitting there is one of the seven?" she asked nodding her head towards Ron, who's shaggy ginger locks matched the color of Ginny's straight ones.

Ron gave a boyish grin, running a hand through the telltale hair. "Wonder what gave it away? So you're _the_ Marie, like the designer Marie DuPonte?"

Marie nodded, taking another sip of her drink. "That would be me!"

"I love your designs! I wish you had come to the Wizarding world sooner; I would've loved to wear one of your gowns for our wedding!"

"Thank you; that's sweet! Well, look, if you and Harry are thinking about a vow renewal, come by the store or get my contact info from Hermione and we'll see what we can work out," Marie said with a smile.

"That would be amazing! We have been married almost ten years next year…wait, you recently got married too, if I remember. Blaise Zabini, right?"

"Yes ma'am," Marie smiled at the mention of her husband, her southern drawl evident in the phrase, "I take it you also know him from school?"

"Yea, we were all in Gryffindor," Harry said motioning the group seated together excluding Marie, "And Zabini and Malfoy were in Slytherin, which was like our rival house."

"And you all did the whole last name thing too, I see. I still don't understand that whole thing."

"You didn't go to school with them; they were dicks. Especially to Hermione," Ron said rather bluntly.

Marie raised an eyebrow in confusion. "How so?"

"Zabini, not so much, but Malfoy? He was terrible. Called Hermione a rather nasty name for a person who is born of non-Magical parents for six years, talked about my family like we were almost dirt because we didn't have the money and power the Malfoys do. He's just a pompous git."

"Currently? As in you know this to be a fact now?" Marie questioned the redheaded man. Everyone else could detect the slight edge in her voice, but Ron seemed to miss it and continued.

"I can imagine it's still true. A person like that is always going to be like that. I think Hermione told us in passing that you're a pureblood?"

"Technically speaking."

"Yea, so you'd never have to go through what Hermione went through. The name calling, people doubting your abilities because you're not like everyone else; that would never be your life."

Hermione groaned, dropping her head in her hand and Harry and Ginny tried to look everywhere but the table. Why? Why, Ron Weasley? Why can't you read social cues? Marie's eyes started to glow that telling gold color, before taking a moment to close her eyes and count to 10, willing the anger to subside and her eyes slowly went back to their dark brown color.

"Okay…I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt since you don't know me that well. But, just so we're clear, you don't know my life. Yes, I'm a "pureblood" or whatever the hell that means in this world, but I'm also a black woman who grew up in N'Orleans, Lousiana and, let me tell you, that is _not_ the friendliest place if you're a black woman. You wanna talk about name calling? I won't even begin to go into the names I've been called throughout my life simply because of the color of my skin, which it sounds like parallels with the reason you say Draco said shit about Hermione. Because she was different and not like him? WELL," Marie clapped her hands once to emphasize the word, "let me update you, Ron. Ron, right? Thank God for deliverance and understanding because Draco, Blaise, and Hermione get along _splendidly_. So splendidly, in fact, that right before you all got here, Hermione was telling me how her and Draco's relationship has been. See, Hermione's learned that people have this amazing ability to grow up and mature. I'll give it to you, though; not everyone does and that's rather unfortunate. But a lot of people do, so let's not try to group all those who were ignorant with those who decided to stay ignorant. 'Kay?"

Marie waved her hand over her hot chocolate, cast a silent spell to warm the liquid that had gotten cold over the period of time it was sitting, and took a sip. Ron's ears had turned red with embarrassment at some point during Marie's speech. Harry and Ginny tried to hold in their chuckles of embarrassment for their friend. Hermione look mortified; amused by Marie's rather accurate "read" of Ron (it was a term Marie used on a regular basis but Hermione concluded it sounded odd coming out of an English woman's mouth) but mortified. She hadn't actually told her three school friends about her budding…whatever with Draco and now that Marie brought it, it had to be addressed. After Ron gingerly mumbled an apology, which resulted in Marie walking over to the man to give him a smile and a hug telling him to loosen up, Ginny was the one acknowledge the elephant in the space.

"So…you and Malfoy, huh?"

Hermione reached up to take down her hair, running a hand through the brown waves as the cascaded down her back. Sighing with a slight smile, she looked to the girl and nodded. Ginny smiled, linking her arm with her husband's and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well, good for you. You look happy, and that makes me happy."

Harry nodded in agreement with his wife, and Ron shrugged, still not fully convinced about Malfoy but Hermione was happy so he could go along with it. Hermione smiled, her thanks radiating through her to her friends.

"Besides," Ginny added, "I figured you two already fucked during school. All that fighting? So much sexual tension."

Ron's ears turned red again and Harry and Hermione just laughed at the redhead girl's bluntness.

"I like Ginny," Marie reached over to high-five the girl, "Ginny can stay."

 **So I knew when creating Marie's character and deciding to make her a Black American woman, I knew I was going to have a scene where I wanted her to address the parallels of being a black woman in America and being a Muggleborn in the Wizarding world. I went back and forth about if I wanted her to have it with with Draco or Hermione, but I like the compromise I came to. My intention wasn't to make her rude or disrespectful or like she was standing on a soapbox, but I did want to show that this was something very real and personal for her and, as many of you noted, she's not shy and says exactly what's on her mind. Hence why she likes Ginny lol. As always, your feedback and reviews are welcomed and appreciated; thank you for your continued support for CL &PS! xx **


	11. Sensor

**New update, yay! So I'm back at school now (booooo!) so the next update might be a little while, but the good part is I know how the story is going to end so CL &PS will be wrapping up in the next 2-3 chapters + wedding outtakes (waaah!). But let's go back to celebrating the new chapter, yaaaay!**

Marie hosted a Mardi Gras dinner at her home that February, inviting her new friend Ginny and her husband and brother. It may have slipped her mind to tell her husband and best friend of her invited guests until they Floo'd in with Hermione; 'well, y'all would've pitched a fit if I said something beforehand', she told them when the two Slytherin wizards raised their eyebrows at her. That's the beautiful thing about a good meal, you see; even the worst of enemies can learn to get along and be merry. Marie did a full spread of New Orleans and other southern classics: chicken-Andouille gumbo, red beans and rice, collard greens, Creole okra, candied yams, Cajun fried shrimp, the works. She even made a traditional king cake, explaining whoever found the baby in their slice would have good fortune for the rest of the year; this prompted Draco, Blaise, Ginny, and Ron to very quickly spit out the bite of cake they had in their mouths and ask how Marie could be so _cruel_ to cook a _baby_ in her cake?! Hermione and Harry chuckled and continued to eat, as Marie tried not to laugh at the others' outrageous line of thinking and amended her explanation for the others at the table; it was just a tiny plastic baby doll, promise! As it turns out, it was Ron who found the tiny doll in his slice after getting over the baby scare. After dinner, the group convened in the sitting room with an assortment of whiskeys and bourbons while those who haven't seen each other caught each other up on their lives over that last few years. Marie and Ron made eye contact at one point during conversation, and Ron help his hand up in surrender, nonverbally referring to their last encounter. Marie silently raised her glass to him with a smirk, as if to say 'told you so'.

No one made a direct comment about Draco and Hermione sitting next to each other, Hermione comfortably tucked into his side as his arm wrapped around her. It was just silently confirmed that they were, in fact and officially, together.

….

The first time Hermione said "I love you" to Draco was a complete accident. It was late March when Draco stopped by Hermione's studio after a private lesson with two of her advanced students preparing for a duet performance at the showcase. He had to stop by Marie's boutique later that afternoon but wanted to say hi and see if Hermione wanted to get a quick bite to eat. Hermione had to take a rain check on lunch, but asked if Draco could walk with her to check on something at the venue for the dinner in June. Somehow, the reservation fell through and the venue would not be available at the June date she requested and put a deposit down for. Hermione could feel her vision tunneling and her nose flaring; one thing she could _not_ tolerate is people messing up her finances and her money. Not to mention, the fundraiser dinner and showcase had been at the same venue for the past two years so why all of a sudden is there a problem. Hermione sat with the manager for almost an hour only to continue to hear "I'm sorry, Ms. Granger, but there is nothing we can do." Hermione took her tight ballet bun out as it was causing her already forming headache to become worse. Sitting outside the manager's office, Hermione closed her eyes tightly and started rubbing her temples trying to come up with a plan B that could be pulled off with such short notice. She never noticed Draco go back inside to speak with the manager, and come back out with a written and signed confirmation for the venue _and_ a check for half of her deposit for the trouble and inconvenience. Draco wasn't sure if Hermione was breathing and took a step towards her before the girl leapt into his arms, kissing him fully on the lips. She giggled as he spun her around and, without even thinking about the words before they escaped her, exclaimed, "I love you!" Both people froze at the declaration. Hermione climbed out of Draco's arms and took a few steps back from the still-frozen blond. Without looking each other fully in the eye, they confirmed their date for the following evening and went about their way, Draco to Marie's boutique and Hermione back to her studio. They didn't address Hermione's outburst outside during their date, outside of a single comment from her: "I mean it, by the way." Ever since then, Draco was all out of sorts. Love? She really loved him? How could she? They hadn't really known each other that long…I mean, outside of their years in school but that couldn't count. He was a terror to the poor girl. And they had only been dating for what, 6-7 months? No way you could fall in love that fast. These thoughts were keeping him awake at night, and taking a chance that either Marie or Blaise would be awake at two in the morning, Draco Floo'd to the Zabini Estate.

Marie was in the study, sketching out an outfit design for Hermione as a surprise birthday gift. The dinner and showcase always fell around the time of her birthday and, in true Hermione fashion, she was so focused on making sure everything went smoothly she had a habit of neglecting herself. So Marie wanted to create something special and unique for her friend to wear for the dinner and showcase, yes because it was her birthday but also why need a reason to do something nice for a friend? However, that nice thing was turning out to be a lot more difficult that Marie anticipated. Ripping out the third page from her sketchpad and throwing it across the room, Marie exhaled loudly and took a sip from her glass of water (her stomach had been rather unsettled the past few days and was part of the reason she was awake now) and was about to start on page number four when she heard the Floo go off in the other room. She didn't know exactly what time it was, but she knew it was too damn late for someone to Floo into her home unannounced. Though she had on nothing but yoga shorts and Blaise's old Hogwarts sweatshirt and her hair was flat-twisted down the back of her head, Marie tiptoed out of the study, her steps silenced by her mix-matched socks. Making her way down the hallway towards the kitchen, where the footsteps on the intruder seemed to be. Right as Marie raised her right hand to send a silent curse towards the intruder from around the corner, he spoke, "Hello? Blaise or Marie, that you?" and she instantly recognized the baritone voice. When she walked around the corner into the kitchen, Marie found Draco helping himself to a bowl of gumbo and glass of water.

"Have you lost your mind? What _exactly_ made you think droppin' by unannounced was a good idea?" Marie ran her hand down her face and Blaise came rushing into the kitchen, wand in hand wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants resting rather low on his hips.

"What's going on? Marie, are you o-" he finally registered who the person Floo-ing into his home at the ass crack of dawn was, "what the fuck, Draco? Seriously?"

"I didn't mean to startle you all, I just…well…I couldn't sleep," Draco said, his eyes trained to his food. Marie silently took note of how Draco seemed to fumble with the fork, playing with the food in the bowl rather than his usual antic of devouring the food, as Blaise continued to talk to his friend.

"You couldn't sleep? So you come to our house unannounced at two in the got damn morning, because you couldn't sleep?" Blaise closed his eyes and ran his free hand down his face. "Marie…get your friend because I'm too tired for his shit right now." He turned to go back upstairs.

"Lose the sweats by the time I'm upstairs, babe," Marie said towards his retreating figure, swatting playfully at his rather taunt backside. Blaise sent a wink to his wife over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner. Marie smirked as she bit her bottom lip, thinking about what lied beneath those sweatpants and all of the possibilities that awaited her when she got upstairs.

"You both are disgusting," Draco moved from the kitchen to the sitting room, making himself comfortable on the couch.

"Do you see what I get to sleep beside every night? Yes, I'm tryna tap that every chance I get!" Marie said sitting next to the blond, her New Orleans drawl heavier due to the late hour. "And you're not allowed to talk about "disgusting", Mr. Four-some."

"That was one time, and it was amazing."

"Right," Marie rolled her eyes, "But, for real, why are you here?"

Draco silently started playing with his food again. Marie sat across from him, with her arms crossed waiting for him to speak. After a few minutes of silence, Marie tapped her toe against his leg.

"Come on, Luke, talk to me. What's goin' on?"

Draco laughed under his breath at the nickname. He had told Marie about his family and his feelings towards his father, Lucius, and how it bothered him that he had to live with the man's name as part of his so Marie started calling him Luke as a way to reframe his negativity towards the name. It was something she still would do occasionally especially when she could feel something with bothering him. He placed his still full bowl on the table, and sighed deeply as he leaned back against the couch.

"When did you know you were in love with Blaise?"

"The same night I met him," Marie answered without hesitation, "you introduced us, and when I shook his hand, I just knew."

"Okay, but _how_?"

Marie tilted her head to the side. "Why the sudden interest?"

Draco ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "Hermione said she loved me. Initially it was after the whole venue thing so I thought she was just really excited, you know? She didn't _really_ mean it like that. Then we went out the next night, and she said she means it… _she means it_. I just….why? How?"

Marie rested her chin in the palm of her hand and just looked at her friend. There were very few times before now that Marie had seen Draco so distraught, the other times usually concerning his family life. From what she's been told, his childhood was less than extraordinary and his parents weren't exactly a bright and shiny example of a healthy relationship. It made complete sense why Draco would be so lost when it came to love; he'd never seen or truly experienced it. Sure he loved Marie, but it was a platonic, sibling type of love. Being _in_ love with another human being? That's the hard part.

"During your welcome party when I first moved, before you even introduced me to Blaise, we happened to make eye contact and…I dunno, I can't really describe it, Draco. I saw him and I saw my husband; I saw my future. I saw little black babies with thick curly hair and English-New Orleans hybrid accents. I can't explain it, but I knew I was in love."

"Were you scared?"

"Terrified!" Marie chuckled, "I was absolutely terrified! I remember the exact moment he said "I love you", too. We'd barely been dating a year and we were supposed to go out one night, but I had just finished working with a disaster of a bride and wedding party that I had completely forgotten and so here he is at my door looking absolutely delicious and I look like hell. I answered the door in a freakin' onesie, Draco…with the feet! That's how bad we're talkin'! Anyways, long story short, I changed and we ended up making dessert together and drinking wine and I remember I said something slick and without skippin' a beat he responded with, 'You're lucky I love you so damn much.'"

Draco stared off into the distance as he contemplated Marie's responses to his questions. Marie said she was scared when he said he loved her, but she said herself she knew she loved him from the moment they met. Something wasn't adding up.

"How did you know it was real?"

"I didn't." Draco looked at her questioningly. "I didn't know if it was real or not. But I knew I trusted him, and I trusted me. So I gave him my heart, and it was one of the best decisions I've made to date."

Marie stood up and stretched her arms above her head. "Now...I have a naked husband upstairs that I'd like to do naughty things with, but I can see the wheels in your head still turning so I'll leave you with this," she squatted in front of the blond and took his face in her hands, "stop overthinking and overanalyzing it and just trust it. Hermione says she loves you, so trust that she means it. And trust your own feelings about her, too…'cause they are the purest and most honest feelings I have felt outside of my parents and Blaise." Marie kissed the top of his head as Draco's eyes widened; he'd never said anything about how he was in love with Hermione.

"I'm a sensor, remember?" Marie answered his unspoken question, ruffling his hair as she walked past him. "I love you dearly, but you gotta get out of my house now."

 **You all know I love feedback, so bring it on! xx**


	12. Baby

**A guest reviewer corrected a point I made in the last chapter about Hermione's birthday; yes, Hermione's birthday is September and Draco's in in June. Truthfully, it's something I added last minute to give a "reason" why Marie would be making this outfit for Hermione; it's not meant to really add or take away from the plot as a whole. You all have good eyes; I appreciate it :) Onward!**

Marie was just about sick of Draco. She loved him dearly, and she was so insanely grateful for his friendship, but she was just about sick of him looking like a lost lovesick puppy the weeks after he invited himself into her home at two in the morning. "Just tell her!" she would tell him whenever he came to her boutique to talk about the newest development in the 90s-teen movie became his love life. Though, if she was being honest with herself, it was helpful to have him around these past few weeks because it meant having an extra pair of hands to help with the costumes for Hermione's showcase and apparently, having an attractive English man complimenting women coming to purchase bridal gowns seemed to help with sales. Plus, he knew the merchandise pretty well from being there some much and could help ring up orders or help a woman pick up her order, so he wasn't just a pretty face taking up space in her boutique. Truthfully, Marie was at a loss on what to tell Draco. She thought it was adorable how much he wanted to tell Hermione that he loved her, and as of lately he had been planning rather elaborate dates to set the mood to tell Hermione how he felt; for whatever reason, though, when he would want to tell her he found the words stuck in his throat. It was driving Draco slightly mad, and his madness was driving Marie slightly mad; what was wrong with him? Was it that difficult to tell a woman he loved her?

"Hell yea, it's hard to tell a woman you love her," Blaise said to Draco one day when the blond stopped by the house (at a decent hour this time) while Marie was out meeting Hermione to discuss showcase stuff, "You know Marie; you think that was easy?"

"It sounded like it was," Draco chuckled, knowing very well what Blaise was getting at about Marie's rather direct nature, "she told me you just said like it was the most obvious thing in the world to you."

"It was the most obvious thing in the world to me," Blaise said, "and that was why I wanted to make it such a grand affair. But then every time I would try and make it this huge thing, the words just wouldn't come out. The night I said it, it was perfect because it was just us at our core; no fancy restaurants, no going to the theatre, none of that. Just me, her, that damn onesie, and…I don't know, mate. It just happened."

Draco rolled his eyes and took a large drink from his beer. "All I'm saying," Blaise continued, ignoring his friend's antics, "is stop trying to damn hard. When the moment is right, it'll happen. No need for the theatric, man."

Blaise's words rang through Draco's head during Draco and Hermione's next date at a new Spanish restaurant in Diagon Alley the following evening. The two shared a wonderful meal, took a stroll down the alley, and ended up back at Draco's house for a "nightcap". Hermione fell asleep first after their session, her naked body curled into Draco's side, her arm draped over his chest and shoulders and her head tucked under his chin. Draco moved a stray curl that kept tickling his nose before softly kissing her on the head. Right as he drifted to sleep, he thought about how perfect this moment was and just how much he loved the woman in his arms.

What he didn't realize, though, is that he had a tendency to sleep talk so some of these thoughts may or may not have been mumbled out loud. And that Hermione may or may not have heard said mumbled thoughts.

…..

Hermione was just finishing up with two of her older students, a 16-year-old girl and an 17-year-old boy, when Marie walked into the studio with two garment bag swung over her shoulder. While most of her students were doing solo performances, and her beginning classes were doing group numbers, these two students approached Hermione asking if they could do a duet, which Hermione was more than happy to assist with. Marie sat in one of the chairs in the corner of the room and watched as Hermione helped guide the boy into how one of the lifts of the dance number should be down. At the end of rehearsal, both teens greeted Marie, and Marie unzipped on of the two garment bags to show them and Hermione the beginnings of the design for their duet. Everyone seemed on board with the progress so far, and after brief discussion about what the future plans for the design, the teens left and Hermione and Marie were in the studio alone. Hermione went to the bar to stretch.

"Why don't you perform at the showcase?" Marie asked, zipping up the garment bag.

Hermione shook her head. "It's not about me; it's about trying to raise money to provide for the students."

"Okay…so that means you can't perform at all?"

"People aren't coming to see me perform, Marie," Hermione lifted her leg effortlessly onto the bar and stretched forward reaching her arm to touch her pointed toe.

Marie shrugged. "Maybe not, but that doesn't mean they won't enjoy watching the woman who's brainchild this whole thing was show why she wanted to start this in the first place. Plus," Marie quickly added before Hermione could butt in, "I haven't seen you dance in years. Yes, I've seen your work and it's always amazing, but I miss watching _you_ dance."

Hermione sighed. She did miss dancing like she used to; it was very freeing to her. Dancing gave her a voice and she couldn't find the words, and she'd be lying to herself is she said she didn't get that giddy ballerina princess feeling she got as a child when she danced. Either way, those who would be attending the dinner and showcase were there to see where the money was going; they were there to see her kids and not the woman in the background.

"Just think about it, Mimi. Okay?"

Hermione nodded, placing her foot back on the floor before raising the opposite foot to the bar for the same stretch. "Hey, random question, has Draco talked with you recently about our relationship?"

Marie raised an eyebrow at the brunette's reflection in the mirror. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…I guess I'm wondering…if he's told you anything about these last few weeks…"

"Such as…?"

"You know…just anything…."

"You mean that time a few weeks ago when you said you love him?"

The pink color the rose in Hermione's cheeks was confirmation enough. Marie fought the urge to roll her eyes, choosing instead to stretch her arms over her head and roll her neck a few times. Now she had two lost lovesick puppies to deal with.

"What is it you're trying to know, Mimi?"

Hermione sat on the floor, cross-legged, and took her bun down. As she talked, she played with the ends, running strands in between her pointer and middle finger; wow, she really needed a trim.

"I don't know, Marie; that's the problem! I don't doubt my feelings for him, and I believe that he feels the same. I mean, he did say it the other night…"

"Wait, wait, wait…he said he loved you? Like the words 'I love you' came out of his mouth?" Marie was going to kill him…stressing her out for no reason when he already said it…

"Well, sort of. He was asleep and he must have been dreaming and he started mumbling about how much he loved me and how perfect everything was and…I don't know it felt intrusive."

By this point, Marie had moved to the floor next to Hermione, her back resting against the mirror. "What do you mean, intrusive?"

"Like I wasn't supposed to hear it; if he's not ready to tell me how he feels, I don't want to find out when he doesn't know he's saying it…"

"God, both of you overthink things entirely too much," Marie chuckled, "Y'all are gonna send me to an early grave, I swear. Look honey, you know Draco isn't a words kind of guy all the time, and when he does speak, it's thought out to the period. So maybe something slipped when he was sleeping and you just happened to hear it; is it the end of the world? No. You trust your feelings, and you trust his feelings even if he hasn't put them into words yet. The words will come eventually."

Hermione shrugged, but still smiled; Marie was right. She was just worrying too much, but that didn't stop the wheels turning in her head about Draco's sleepy declaration.

"Changing the topic," Marie said, standing up, "I brought you a little somethin' for the dinner showcase." She walked over to the chair she was originally sitting in and picked up the second garment bag.

"Oh, Marie, you didn't have to. With all the other costumes you're making…"

"I know I didn't _have_ to, but I _wanted_ to so take it otherwise I'll be offended, she said with a smile.

Hermione shook her head, and decided not to argue with the black girl. Opening the garment bag, she found a simple but classic burgundy woman's tuxedo.

"And if you open the jacket," Marie said, unbuttoning and opening the suit jacket, "you'll find it lined in gold because apparently Gryffindor colors are burgundy and gold, and I thought it was a sentimental touch."

Hermione silently ran her fingers over the suit before engulfing Marie in a huge hug. "It's wonderful. Thank you so much."

Marie hugged her friend back just as tightly. "Of course; you deserve it. Now…baby and me are hungry. Let's grab a bite, yea?"

Hermione went to get her dance bag, and then paused and turned to face her friend after what Marie just said registered in her mind. "Baby?"

 **Next chapter is the dinner showcase! Will Draco finally balls up and consciously say how he feels? What's Marie talking about "baby and me?" Tune in for the next chapter of CL & PS! xx**


	13. Smile

**So, so, so, so sorry for taking so long to update. I've been trying to re-adjust to school/work life and I'm exhausted. But here it is...the second to last chapter to CL & PS! Thanks for sticking with me this long, you wonderful readers and followers, you! xx**

Naturally, Marie and Blaise asked Draco and Hermione to be the godparents to Marie's baby. After Marie's slip and Hermione's badgering, the couple finally revealed that Marie was in fact two months pregnant and were trying to wait until the end of her first trimester to share. Draco had the audacity to act genuinely shocked that Marie and Blaise would ask him to be the godfather, which resulted in Marie less-than-gently swatting him in the back of the head mumbling about how dumb he could be sometimes. "The baby got offended," she said in response to the glare he sent her way. Hermione, being the thoughtful person that she was, wanted to make sure the work Marie was doing for the showcase wasn't too stressful, because if so she could definitely go in the stock room and find some costumes. "Hermione, doll, I'm pregnant not porcelain," Marie found herself repeating the mantra multiple times a week up until the day of the showcase. Draco and Hermione continued to date while still avoiding the giant red elephant about the L word, which continued to drive Marie up a wall. They really did want to send her to an early grave.

At long last, the day of the dinner showcase arrived and Hermione was predictably a ball of nerves. Hermione could barely keep still, which caused Marie to almost burn the girl's ear with a curling iron as she put the finishing touches to her hair. After a few waves from Blaise's wand (loaned graciously to Marie because trying to do alterations by hand just wasn't in the cards the way Hermione kept moving), the burgundy tuxedo fit Hermione like a glove. She opted not to wear a top underneath the tuxedo jacket, and Marie tailored the jacket and pant to be a very slim fit. Hermione paired the tuxedo with black stilettos with a gold bottom and chandelier gold earrings, and with her chocolate brown hair in big curls loosely tossed over her right shoulder, Hermione looked like an executive badass. Or at least, that's what Marie said, dressed in a simple fitted mid-length dress, her almost three-month baby belly just starting to show. After managing to calm Hermione down a little bit, Marie went to her table with Blaise, Draco, Harry, Ginny, and Ron. Hermione gave a brief speech, thanking those who have supported Make A Pointe Studio and giving a synopsis of the evening: dinner followed by a few performances from the current students, the silent auction from M. Photography, and ending with two performances for her advanced students. Polite applause followed Hermione as she exited the stage to join her table, just as waiters came around with the first course of the catered dinner. Hermione took her seat next to Draco, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and running a hand through her curly hair, as Draco leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek and whisper supporting words in her ear. In between the first course and the entrée, Hermione changed out of her tuxedo into a long sheer-sleeved burgundy leotard with matching sheer skirt, tights, and her well-worn soft shoes; instead of her usual ballet bun, Hermione opted to leave her curly hair down. Halfway through the entrée, Hermione introduced the first set of performances; the audience ooh'd and aww'd as the younger performers took the stage with their group routines. Ginny and Harry smiled brightly and proudly as their watched their little Lily dance with her Aunt Mimi, as Marie smiled at the beaming parents, absent-mindedly began to rub her belly. Blaise took notice of his wife's line of view, taking her other hand resting on the table and placing a soft kiss across the knuckles. Draco was so wrapped up in watching Hermione as she led and danced with her students ( _"Would our kids be dancers? Our kids would probably be dancers. Wait…now I'm thinking about having_ kids _with this woman?! Oh God, I'm in deep…"_ ), he completely zoned out and missed hearing the object of his affection calling him up to the podium to start the auction. He sent a glare towards Marie and Ginny, who were failing at hiding their giggles at the love-struck man, and within thirty minutes, all the guests had dessert, four guests had exclusive piece for M Photography's personal collection, and low and behold Mrs. Ginny Potter won the big prize of a one-on-one photo shoot with Draco Malfoy. _Naturally_ , Draco thought as he returned to his seat across from the now-openly and fully laughing redhead. Hermione had to hide her laughter as she introduced the last two performers of the night, her most advanced and oldest students Stephen and Leanne. The duo performed two pieces, a classic and an original piece. The first performance was the classic duet from Romeo and Juliet.

The young dance couple, dressed in Marie's slightly modified designs of the original costumes, was moving flawlessly across the stage when all went to hell. The music was coming to an end when the Leanne's leg slipped from under her, causing her to tumble to the floor. At first glance, it seemed like it was a minor slip that could easily be recovered from. But then she didn't get up. In fact, the young girl was doubled over, clutching her ankle. Hermione was quickly on stage and kneeling next to the girl, Stephen standing behind Hermione, to check on her student. Marie jumped up on stage, addressing the audience briefly, and helped Hermione take Leanne offstage. Once they entered the room across the hall designated as the dressing room for her students, now empty as the earlier performers were now in the audience, Hermione waved her wand, which had been sitting behind a mirror, to transfigure some excess chairs into a small bed. Marie looked over to Hermione like she had completely lost her mind.

"It's okay, they're both Hogwarts students. They have special permission to see me for lessons during the school year," Hermione said, answering Marie's unspoken question. She ran some tests over the girl's ankle, which reported that it was a sprain. Thankfully, not a bad one, but it would be a bad idea to continue dancing on it tonight. Leanne began to cry softly, a mix of pain, embarrassment, and sadness, as Stephen sat next to her on the bed, comforting her. Hermione stood and ran her hand through her hair again, the loose curls now on the frizzy side due to running her hand through it every ten minutes or so.

"Well, I'm not going to let her go out there again and Stephen can't perform the piece on his own…I guess I'll just go and tell them that unfortunately Leanne has injured herself and can't perform the second dance…"

"Can't you?" Marie interrupted Hermione's aloud thinking.

Hermione stopped her pacing to look at her friend and sighed. "I mean, I suppose I could but…"

"But what? Isn't it _your_ choreographer? Give me one good reason why you can't step in for Leanne."

Hermione sputtered a few times, trying to come up with a reason to get Marie off her case. She settled with, "Stephen isn't used to lifting me and I don't want him to get hurt!"

"Stephen has great technique and I've seen him lift you before, so that's bullshit. Hermione, _come on_! You can do this; stop selling yourself short! And technically you wouldn't really have to change…"

Running a hand through her hair again, Hermione sat in an extra chair rather ungracefully and closed her eyes as she rubbed her temple. She was about to politely decline and just end the night, when Leanne sniffled and spoke softly.

"Ms. Hermione, if it's worth anything, I think you should do it." Stephen nodded his head in agreement. Hermione smiled at her young students.

"Come on, Mimi; don't let down that babies," Marie playfully pouted, using her New Orleans drawl to emphasize the sentence.

Hermione laughed at Marie's antics. "Well, it looks like I've been outnumbered. Fine, you've sucked me into it. But I can't wear my every day practice wear, not when you've made a beautiful piece, Marie. And I have to put my hair up which will take…"

"Shhhhhhhhhh-shhh-shhh-shhhh," Marie dramatically placed two fingers over Hermione's mouth to silence her, "One problem solved: just leave your hair down. Second problem solved: give me your wand and I can make you something right now. And your pointe shoes are always in your bag…so whenever you're ready, just hand me your wand."

Hermione eyed her friend warily, before handing over her wand. Well, this was happening…

…..

Draco was about to get up from the table to check on Hermione and Marie, who had been gone about 30 minutes, when Marie walked back out on stage.

"Hi everyone; sorry about the delay? Ms. Leanne is going to be fine, just a sprain but Hermione thought it was best she stay off it. So unfortunately, Leanne will not be able to perform her second piece. Still, let's hear it for her beautiful performance as Juliet, yea?" The crowd gave a sound applause for the young girl. "But, in true show biz style, the show must go on, and I must say y'all are gettin' a real treat. Dancing an original piece to Josh Groban's 'When You Say You Love Me', please welcome back to the stage Mr. Stephen Blacke and his new partner, Ms. Hermione Granger."

Ohh's and aww's accompanied the crowd warm applause as Hermione and Stephen took the stage. Hermione shot a glance towards Marie just as she was taking her seat, the black girl giving her a quick thumbs up and a wink just as the soft piano in the intro started to play over the loud speaker. Marie didn't do much transfiguration Hermione's original leotard and skirt; designing it so it was all one piece as opposed to separates, Marie made the leotard sleeveless with a longer sheer skirt that opened on the side. Dancing next to Stephen, who danced barefoot in dance denim and a white button-up that was left up buttoned, it was a perfect match. Hermione's anxiety quickly disappeared as she moved and soon, she found herself lost in the music and lyrics. This was why she fell in love with dancing; there was no better feeling than that of being able to give yourself over to the music and let it inspire your movements. Those seated at her table watched in amazement as Hermione floated across the stage, Stephen not missing a beat with every lift and step. All but Blaise had seen her dance before, but it had been years since they saw Hermione dance as _Hermione_ and not Ms. Hermione or Ms. Granger. Like his tablemates, Draco found himself enchanted by Hermione and he also found himself feeling strangely warm inside from the song's lyrics. They spoke his truth and encompassed everything he felt for his beautiful witch. As the song came to an end and the crowd rose in a standing ovation as Hermione and Stephen took their bows, Draco Malfoy knew without a doubt that he was in love with Hermione Granger. And he was going to tell her tonight.

….

"I've never seen you dance like that; you were breath-taking," Draco said. After the showcase, the entire table, including little went back to Marie and Blaise's home for a toast of sparkling cider, being sensitive to Marie's temporary new drinking habits, in Hermione's honor. Harry, Ginny, and Ron left shortly after the toast and Marie was asleep within minutes. Draco took the opportunity to take a walk around the garden with Hermione. It was an unusually warm evening, so Hermione left her performance dress on and opted to go barefoot. Hermione smiled at his compliment as the pair continued their walk hand in hand.

"Thank you," she said softly, "I can't say I've danced like that in a long time. It felt amazing."

Draco made a humming sound to acknowledge her words. "What made you choose that song?"

Hermione continued walked silently and, for a moment, Draco thought she hadn't heard him. He was about to ask her again in a soft voice when she responded.

"I don't know, truthfully. I've always liked that song; it's a beautiful and forward way for a man to talk about the moment when his partner says they love him. What it's like for him in that moment, you know?"

Draco nodded, a small smile gracing his face. "I do, indeed. Very much so."

"And even in perfect moment, he still can't help but wonder if his partner knows that he feels the exact same way. It's touching, really." Hermione continued walking, looking down as her feet shuffled through the soft grass when she felt Draco gently tug her hand to pull her back to where he was standing. She looked up into those gray eyes she had come to love over the past few months; she had memorized every flicker and shade they take on. Bright grey when he's happy, a dull slate when he's upset, molten charcoal when he's aroused…she had learned them all. Which was why she was confused by the look he was giving her now; this one seemed more open and vulnerable and it threw her off a little bit. Her eyes fluttered shut, though, when he reached to tuck a curl behind her ear and gently cup the side of her face as he rubbed his thumb across her cheek. Hermione was so engulfed in the sensation caused by the simple touch, that she had to ask him to repeat himself because she missed what he said the first time.

"I asked, do you think that he feels that same way?"

Hermione sighed, her eyes still closed. "I'd like to believe so."

She felt Draco take a step closer to her to wrap his arms around her waist as hers rested on top of his arms. He leaned forward to rest his head against hers, whispering so softly that Hermione had to run it though her head a second time to make sure she actually heard him.

"Well, I feel the _exact_ same way."

Hermione leaned back slightly so that she could look into his eyes again. "What? What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, you silly little witch," he chuckled, "that I'm absolutely in love with you and I'm sorry it took me so long to say it."

Draco vowed he would never forget the smile that graced her face at that moment, and as she jumped into his arms, he vowed he would do everything in his power to keep it there for the rest of their lives.

 **Let's all congratulate our dear Draco for finally saying the magic words! *applause, applause* For those who don't know that song I referenced for Hermione's second piece, I'd strongly suggest listening to the song. I love Josh Groban and often listen to his music when I'm doing homework or in between classes and this song came on one day and it just had to be included in the story. So again, that's 'When You Say You Love Me' by Josh Groban. One more chapter to go; I can't believe it! Reviews and feedback, as always, are welcome! xx**


	14. Photographer

**Before getting into the last chapter (OMG!) I wanted to respond to a few reviews I read this morning:**

 **To the guest that said that Draco had to have created the selfie trend because he's so arrogant and felt the no one else could take his picture right: I now have an image in my head about Draco's imaginary Instagram page and it's hilarious. Someone needs to write a story about Draco's new life dream to be an Instagram celebrity.**

 **To the guest that asked about the "baby Jesus" reference in Chapter 2: No, I'm not Catholic and neither is Marie; it's a phrase I've heard many of my friends from that area say before and as I was trying that chapter it just found its way on the screen and I felt that it fit. I also feel the culture of New Orleans would influence her to say/think something like that.**

 _October_

Getting married on October 31st was a fully thought-out plan. It was right before the temperature started to drop significantly, and one could still appreciate the beauty of the fall season. Also, it gave a perfect reason to host a costume ball as a wedding anniversary party and that's exactly what Marie and Blaise did. Much smaller and intimate than their wedding, the Zabini's, costumed as "Victor and Emily" from some Muggle film about a corpse bride, renewed their vows using the same lines from the film. Was it insanely corny? Absolutely. But if it made his seven-month-pregnant wife happy, then Blaise could grin and bare it for a night. As could Draco, since Hermione had them go as "Jack and Sally" from some other Muggle film about a Christmas nightmare by the same director. Truthfully, Draco felt he didn't look half bad in the black and white striped suit, but the collar was ridiculous and the makeup was making it a significant challenge to take photos with smearing the black and white face color on his lens. Though, seeing Hermione dressed in the short-sleeved patch dress, the exaggerated ragdoll make-up and her curly hair temporarily dyed red and straightened for the event was kind of cute. He walked around taking photos of estate décor and the guests before spotting Marie sitting along the wall near the refreshment table, a mug of spiced cider in her hand. Pregnancy really looked good on her; over the past few months, Marie had developed a glow that was both physical and emotional. Her brown skin was flawless and her hair had grown exponentially, the kinky coils in their natural state now easily falling to the middle of her back. She altered her original wedding gown to look more like that of the character from the film, accommodating it to fit her protruding belly. Upon realizing her friend was taking candid shots of her, Marie sent Draco a playful glare as she took another sip of the warm liquid. She absent-mindedly began rubbing her belly as Draco pulled up a chair next to her, sighing deeply as he took his seat and stretched his long legs in front of him.

"It's really been a year," he said casting a side glace to his friend as he continued to stare out into the party.

Marie nodded, continuing to rub her belly. "It's been a full 365 days. Crazy, huh?"

"Definitely. Any regrets?"

"Yea…you taking so damn long to tell that girl you loved her."

Draco snorted at the unexpected answer and laughed, a throw your head back, deep belly laugh. Marie found herself joining in his laughter. "What? Don't ask me questions if you don't want my answers!"

Draco's laughter finally started to subside and he dabbed the sides of his eyes as tears started to form. "I know, I know. I just wasn't expecting that, though knowing you for however long I've known you I should've seen it coming." He exhaled as the last bits of laughter left his lips. "I'd have to agree, though. It took far too long. Which is why…" he paused to reach into his pocket to pull out a small square box, "I'm _not_ waiting to give her this."

Marie gently to the box from his hand and opened the lid to reveal a beautiful diamond engagement ring. The simple silver setting with the small round diamond screamed Hermione.

"Wow, Draco. Good for you; beautiful choice…oh!" Marie felt the baby start to kick where her hand was resting, "Your godson agrees with your choice, too."

Draco smiled and sat a hand on the top of Marie's baby bump, feeling his godson punch against his palm. "You have good taste, little man."

That night - after returning to Draco's townhouse, taking a shower together to wash the make-up off of their faces and bodies, and cuddling as they watched 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' ( _"It's not creepy and cheesy, it's a classic film. Hush and watch."_ )- Draco asked Hermione to marry him. Hermione said yes.

…..

 _December_

Watching Draco and Blaise anxiously pace around her hospital room at St. Mungo's made Marie dizzy, so she sent them to wait in the lobby. She had started to feel some discomfort around her midsection earlier that weeks, so with a few days left until her due date, her mediwitch thought it would be best for her to wait out the rest of her pregnancy at St. Mungo's. Naturally, this sent her darling husband and best friend into a tizzy and the two spent most of the day and night walking around and fussing over the very pregnant and agitated Marie. With the boys in the lobby, Marie and Hermione sat on Marie's bed. Marie rested her head on Hermione's shoulder, and Hermione rested her head atop of Marie's. Both girls had their hair pulled back to avoid disastrous tangling, because the last thing they needed was another thing for their men to fret about.

"I'm not putting you in a damn tutu," Marie giggled. Naturally, the conversation flowed to the future Granger-Malfoy wedding, specifically Hermione's wedding dress.

"Oh come on, it would be fun!" Hermione smiled at her brilliant and hilarious idea. "I'm a ballerina, getting married in a tutu-like gown, some lace, some sparkle…clearly, it would be adorable!"

"Clearly it would be tacky and I can't let you go out like that," Marie laughed, "We'll compromise at a tulle bottom. I do love the idea of lace for you…we can play with some sketches and discuss it more after your godson and I are out of here."

Hermione smiled and looped her arm through Marie's. "Fair enough." The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"You're about to be a mommy."

"You're about to be a godmommy….ow! Like right now!"

Hermione quickly stood up as Marie cradled her pregnant belly, her face scrunched as another cramp passed through her abdomen. A few seconds later, the bedding in between Marie's legs became soaked, signaling to both women that now would be a good time to get the mediwitch.

After four hours of labor, including more panicking from Draco and Blaise which resulted in Marie slapping both of them on more than one occasion because they weren't the ones about to push a baby out of their man parts and a terrified Draco making an amused Hermione promise not to be as abusive when they start having children, Alexander Langston Zabini was now cradled in his mother's arms. Marie was resting against Blaise's chest while the black man hugged his wife closer to him as he smiled down at his son. Blaise gently ran his finger over Alexander's tiny hand, and couldn't help the few tears of joy that leaked from his eyes when the tiny newborn wrapped his hand around his father's finger. Hermione sat at the end of the bed and Draco stood behind her with an arm around her shoulders, giving the new family space but still able to feel the warmth and love radiating from the new parents. Draco leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of Hermione's head. "One day," he whispered into her hair as he placed another kiss atop her head, causing the brunette to hum in agreement and lean back further into his embrace. At Marie's invitation, the two moved to where the new parents sat and they sat around little Alexander, talking to him and each other about life and the future. Someone, probably Draco but Marie could barely stay awake let alone focus on who was saying what at the moment, mentioned something about it being a picture perfect moment when Alexander began to whimper and squirm in Marie's arms. Marie passed him to Blaise, which seemed to settle the newborn down as he promptly went back to sleep.

"Well," Marie said sleepily after noticing her son's demeanor change, "looks like we know who _won't_ be a photographer when he grows up."

 **Thank you all for your support of CL &PS. For my first full-length multi-chapter FF story, I'm pretty happy with the final product and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Let me know what you thought about it; what went well, what could be better, etc. Again, I thank you and appreciate each and every one of you! See you all next story! ~xx, Nova**


	15. The Final Word From Our Sponsors

**Hi everyone!**

 **I'm officially back in school, so I definitely won't be posting anything new anytime soon. But I do have two ideas on the drawing board: a smutty one-shot loosely inspired by a combination of Miguel's song 'the valley' from his newest album (which is pretty good for anyone who likes Miguel)and the USA series Satisfaction and an 8th year story with another OC. I'm finding that creating a character is really enjoyable and will probably be a trend I'll want to keep doing for however long I continue writing.**

 **BUT in terms of CL &PS, there are two things I wanted to address. One, one reviewer asked if I would be writing an epilogue. And two, I know I promised you lovely readers wedding outtakes at the end of the story. So sadly, please don't hate me, I don't think I'll be adding an official epilogue nor will I add wedding outtakes. The wedding outtakes were mainly silly scenes that I created in my head while daydreaming one day (probably during a time I should have been paying attention...), and they don't affect of change the plot in any way. In terms of an epilogue or "where are they now?", Draco and Hermione wedded a year and a half after Alexander was born and gave birth to fraternal twins, a boy with fine brown hair and a girl with curly blonde hair. Blaise and Marie had another baby, this time a little girl, when Alexander was five. And for those wondering about Hermione's tutu wedding gown...she worn a fitted lace gown. BUT she did get a short, tutu-inspired reception dress, which inspired a new line for ****_Sincerely, Marie_** **filled with tulle and ruffles and ribbons.**

 **So here's to the for real, for real end of CL &PS. Thanks for a great ride and I'll see you next story! xx**


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